Where did Voidy-Lynn come from? How do we know if we’re going to like an NPC or not? And has Emily Slaughter fully lost it? All that and more at the Afterparty!
We’re playing Masks for this campaign! You can access a running list of all the NPCs from Campaign 4 here.
The only way you can listen to an exclusive oneshot is if you grab the limited-edition JTP VINYL now!!
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Cast & Crew
- Game Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host, Co-Producer, Sound Designer, Composer (Connor Lyons): Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host, Co-Producer, Editor (Shelley Craft): Julia Schifini
- Co-Host, Co-Producer (Rowan Rosen): Amanda McLoughlin
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: https://multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is an actual play podcast with tangible worlds, genre-pushing storytelling, and collaborators who make each other laugh each week. We welcome everyone to the table, from longtime players to folks who’ve never touched a roleplaying game before. Hop into our current campaign: the drama and excitement of a superhero high school! Or marathon our completed stories: Campaign 3 for a pirate story set in a world of plant- and bug-folk, the Camp-Paign for a MOTW game set in a weird summer camp, Campaign 2 for a modern superhero game, and Campaign 1 for a high fantasy story. And once a month we release the Afterparty, where we answer your questions about the show and how we play the game. New episodes every Tuesday.
Transcript
Amanda: Hey, hi, hello, and welcome to the Afterparty where, unfortunately, folks, we have consented to have school-related dreams, traumas, and deadlines for the remainder of this campaign. Hi. How are you?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Yay.
Julia: Oh, Amanda, so good. So good. I missed math class in my dream.
Brandon: In my dream, I became number one and was a valedictorian. Oh, man. It's so bad. Oh, no.
Julia: Oh, no. What a nightmare.
Brandon: What a nightmare.
Eric: In my dream, I was grading all of you. We— I don't know how I feel about it, but feels—
Amanda: Aah.
Eric: —but it feels like a lot.
Brandon: Well, thank you for making me valedictorian, Eric.
Eric: Yeah, but your teeth were falling out while it was happening.
Julia: While you're making the speech at graduation. Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, and you were naked. And I don't know why that was happening in my dream.
Brandon: I know why it was happening in your dream, Eric.
Eric: Oh, nice.
Amanda: You know, it's because we're all teenagers, and our minds and bodies are quite confused. Folks, are you excited to talk about the second batch of episodes in Campaign Four, episodes four to six?
Brandon: Yes.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Brandon: I am. Let's do it.
Eric: Brandon gets five participation points. I'm still grading you.
Amanda: Hooray. I was gonna say the class, but the listeners really came through with some great questions for this Afterparty, folks. So I'm gonna try to get as many answered as I possibly can today.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Julia: Why do we call our listeners the class for this season?
Brandon: For this season?
Eric: Oh, that's pretty good.
Brandon: I do like that.
Amanda: Really cute.
Julia: It's really cute, Amanda.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Well, it shall be done. And Julia, first question is for you.
Julia: Oh!
Amanda: It's from Rayne Storms. "Has Craft ever asked Rowan to make them a gravity bong?"
Julia: I will answer that in character, which is—
Julia (as Shelley Craft): You know, some things you just don't need powers for, you know?
Julia: So the answer is no.
Amanda: Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one.
Julia: Exactly. You know? Sometimes you have a skill set, and that's important, because your powers aren't everything. You know?
Brandon: You wouldn't need to make a gravity bong, because gravity bongs are there to defy gravity. So, like—
Julia: Oh, is that why they're called that?
Brandon: I think. I only did it once when I was, like, 16, so I don't remember how it works.
Julia: Brandon doesn't remember the physics of his gravity bong from 16 years old.
Amanda: Is that a good rule of thumb? Like, famously, in Julia's community growing up, you can drink once you're over the speed limit, which is 15 miles per hour. Is it once you can explain gravity, you can use a gravity bong?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Is that like physiologically and developmentally appropriate?
Julia: I like that.
Eric: You have to get at least a three on the AP Physics A and B in order for you to do a gravity bong.
Julia: Damn.
Amanda: That would have motivated me much more. Eric, this is a great question from BlueSpectr. "Is there a fraternity house on campus, and is the address 80085 Michael Hunter Memorial Drive?" It did take me a few moments to realize that that does spell out boobs, like in the calculator.
Julia: I have a question.
Amanda: Yep.
Julia: Who's Michael Hunter?
Amanda: I also don't know.
Eric: You guys— you missed the second joke if— BlueSpectr, thank you. Don't worry. Just think about it for a second and what— maybe what Michael Hunter's nickname might be. But no, because it's a high school but it is very funny that you said that, and I'm gonna— you could have a joke in BlueSpectr.
Brandon: Mike, boobs, Mike?
Amanda: Mike Hunt?
Eric: There it is.
Amanda: Oh.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: Okay, yep.
Julia: Wow.
Amanda: I'm old.
Julia: Okay. I was like— I was Googling, I was like, "The boxer, or his other dad, who's also had the same name? The sound designer for Grand Theft Auto? Is that who we're talking about?"
Eric: That reminded me of, probably, my favorite, like, same name, different person thing.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: You know the guy, Jack Johnson? We were all in high school around the same time.
Brandon: Of course.
Eric: Jack Johnson, Banana Pancakes, Bubbly Toes.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: The chillest man alive, who's also like a surfer.
Brandon: Of course.
Eric: Nothing is funnier to me that— that's— that Jack Johnson is also the name of, like, the first black heavyweight boxer of all time, like legendary fighter. Like, a man who went down to the crossroads, that kind of legend.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: And he has the same name as the guy who did Banana Pancakes.
Julia: It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose.
Brandon: Are we sure that Banana Pancakes man didn't just, like, take the stage name of this legendary boxer?
Eric: I think he's too chill to be racist, Brandon. I don't think so.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Jack Johnson, the singer is Hawaiian, and my sister sees him all the time.
Julia: What?
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: He's a real good dude, also.
Brandon: That's so cool.
Eric: I— Jack Johnson definitely seems like a good guy.
Julia: I hope so. Fingers crossed.
Brandon: I get him and the guy from New Girl confused a lot, so in my head, they're the same person.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: They are pretty similar, pretty similar types. Speaking of people who are similar, Leothelizardking wants to know, "Do the students have roommates? If the answer is, sometimes, is it based on size or seniority? Since many times freshmen have roommates and just age out of them as a reward for, I don't know, sticking around or something. But also, there are some really little guys at WE.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: At WE.
Julia: WE.
Eric: Yeah. Oh, for sure. I think it's very similar to my experience at NYU, where housing was at a premium. So although we all had bathrooms in— connected to our rooms, because so many of these were converted SROs, or hotels. You were, like, shoved into the tiniest room possible. So I can only— and having any room that was like part of a suite where you had your own room, was so deeply prized. I think what the question asker said about the people who stick around the longest on campus get rewarded for it, I think especially—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —based on the split, that we all decided during the world-building episodes, how we flipped it from— what was it like, two-thirds off campus to one-third on campus, and then we reversed it in the real—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —once we actually started playing. I think that being rewarded for, like, graduating and staying on campus as a senior, I think is— that's why all of you— I feel like all of you, like, are in a suite together, because so much is defined by your club teams.
Julia: Yeah. I agree, which I think is— was really funny when we had a moment where we were like, "Connor, come out of your room." And Connor's like, "This is Connor's roommate. What?" We were like, "He's too big for that. He wouldn't have one."
Brandon: Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, is I don't think Connor has one only because he is too large and too gross, so I think he had to get his own room, unfortunately.
Amanda: Now, guys, have we considered that, like, an Instagram account of ,like, goats and birds being friends, you know? Or like big dog, little kitten?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Have we considered that maybe the administration of Water's Edge pairs the biggest freshmen with the smallest freshmen?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: And then there can be, like, a running, sort of, you know, meme or blog or series on campus of, "Checking in with my big roommate," or, "Checking in with my small roommate."
Julia: Have we considered that maybe Connor's roommate was Frög, but Frög was tadpole-sized when they first were— and that's why Connor doesn't recognize Frög anymore?
Brandon: That's so cute. I hope so.
Amanda: That's really cute. It's like a summer— it's getting hot, but you sort of, you know, become your amphibious form.
Julia: The glow hop.
Eric: That explains why everyone keeps thinking Frög is a freshman every year.
Brandon: Uh-huh.
Julia: That's what we're saying.
Amanda: Aw.
Brandon: That's so funny.
Julia: I just— I don't think anyone heard my glow hop joke, and I just want to put that out there.
Amanda: Thank you. You're right, Julia. I missed that.
Julia: It was very quiet, so it's my fault.
Amanda: I missed that. Thank you.
Brandon: That's really good. Can you imagine having shrinking powers and then, like every time you come home to your dorm, you have to be like, "Fuck," and you have to get small again?
Eric: As if someone with shrinking powers would be your first— would your first obligation be to— okay, I guess it's for your own self, because then you get to enjoy a small space, very large.
Brandon: I guess, yeah.
Julia: It's true.
Brandon: I don't know.
Eric: Because you're Brandon, I was like, "Wow, Brandon's first thought as a shrinking person is, 'I'm gonna make less space for my roommate.'"
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: "I'm gonna take up less space in his life."
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Well, it's like— yeah, I was gonna say, like, shrinking powers is really just accommodation powers, you know?
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: It's not the best power set.
Eric: It's interesting. There was a character like that in the college, The Boys.
Brandon: Yeah, Gen V.
Eric: But it was also, like, incredibly ham-fisted about, like, eating disorders at the same time, so it wasn't as interesting, But it's an interesting— it's definitely one that has, like, complex thinking about legs.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Let's talk about college. Eric, great segue, because Ginger wants to know, "If the super seniors were in a traditional school and applying to college, what majors would they be thinking of studying?"
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: I can't decide if Rowan would do something very cerebral, like philosophy or economics, which is kind of like philosophy of, you know, countries and how they get together. Maybe— because I think religious studies would be too on the nose. Or maybe just something like incredibly specific, like, you know, physics. Maybe the physics of, like, vibration.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: I could see astrophysics for Rowan. I think that would be really interesting.
Amanda: Cool.
Brandon: Because she's so high all the time, is that what you're saying? Oh, no, for Rowan.
Julia: For Rowan.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I thought you meant astrophysics for Craft's.
Julia: No. God, no.
Brandon: Which is on the nose.
Julia: Though I think Craft maybe would be super into engineering.
Amanda: Love it.
Julia: I think— like, without the societal or familial pressure of being an engineering person. I think Craft genuinely does think engineering is fun and cool.
Brandon: What would Connor do? I feel like he'd be what that, like, person who sort of just, like, is a little bit flounder-y in college, because he's, like, kind of good at everything.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: I could see him ending up in poli sci.
Brandon: Yeah. I mean, maybe, but he can also end up with just a communications degree and then get a job at the White House, you know?
Eric: Real.
Julia: Just like Vulcani.
Eric: One— all you need is one professor to, like, change your life, and then that's your major, even though you don't like it.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: It's like, "Oh, I guess I'm an architecture major. Sorry."
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Indeed.
Eric: Julia, can I get a Craft saying the Elle Woods' Legally Blonde, "Oh, like, it's hard," to all of the people who are like, "Why are you being an engineer?"
Julia (as Craft): What? Like, it's hard?
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Yay.
Brandon: Eric, what would all— what would some NPCs be, do you think?
Eric: That's a good question. I haven't thought about it, because the jobs after high school for these students are so specific that it's like, I do have an idea of where they're gonna go after—
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: —in high school, or it's like where they want to work, you know?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like Powers and Wraith and— well, TeamCast is gonna get returned to GameStop.
Brandon: No!
Julia: For the best. For the best.
Amanda: Not GameStop.
Brandon: He's gonna get refurbished.
Eric: You get a lightly used TeamCast for, like, $150.
Julia: Who bought him originally?
Eric: The government.
Julia: Oh.
Eric: So that's a good question.
Julia: Is it a who can say?
Brandon: All right, here's an easier question. What would Eric do?
Eric: What would I do?
Brandon: An English major?
Eric: I would try to have a weird major, and then people would tell me, I need an English major—
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: —so that I can have a job, so—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —for me to be an English education major and— for me to be an English education masters.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: I— you need to have an English educate— you need to have an English degree in order to be a English teacher in New York State.
Brandon: Damn.
Eric: So even though my major was dramatic literature, which was pretty much just an English degree inside— that was all supposed specifically about plays, and it was in the English Department, I had to change it.
Brandon: I didn't realize that. Jesus Christ. I was gonna say—
Eric: Yeah, it—
Brandon: —who told you that an English degree would get you a job?
Eric: In this one specific situation, that.
Julia: Fair enough.
Amanda: Speaking of TeamCast and their origins, EepyFella and TJ collaborated on an excellent line of questioning in Discord. By the way, if you're on Discord, why not? patreon.com/jointhepartypod.
Brandon: Why not?
Amanda: Culminating in, "Can you play Doom on TeamCast?"
Julia: Can you?
Eric: Yeah, of course.
Amanda: Can you?
Julia: Any game?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Is TeamCast basically just a Steam Deck?
Eric: No. I think the NSA will know you can do it. It's like, like, you are jailbreaking something you shouldn't and also, like, I don't know, Jim Collins, special agent at the NSA also knows what your high score is on Doom.
Julia: Cool.
Brandon: Is— can TeamCast, like, play video games on himself? Is that entertaining for him, or is it like—
Amanda: Only in the mirror and it's backwards.
Julia: Brandon, that's like dreams. When TeamCast sleeps, he casts dreams of video games.
Brandon: Oh. Yeah.
Eric: Wow, we finally have the answers, do— to do robots dream of electric sheep?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Only if they're doing a farm simulator.
Eric: Right. Only if it's Stardew Valley. Exactly.
Amanda: No notes. Perfection. SharpSnooter wants to know, "Do you think any of your characters have played TTRPGs? If they were to run a game, what system would each team prefer?"
Julia: Ooh. That's really interesting. I don't— Craft seems like maybe the— I was gonna say most likely and then I was like, "No, wait, that's probably Connor." And then I was like, "No, wait, probably Rowan would play some tabletop RPGs, too."
Amanda: I like Warhammer.
Julia: So I think Craft is like, the person that you— Oh, my God, Warhammer for Rowan? That's so cool.
Brandon: That's really funny.
Julia: Craft is like the person you invite to a tabletop RPG night, and then they just, like, eat all the snacks, and kind of just do character voices, and really don't engage too much in the mechanics.
Brandon: So you mean playing R— D&D at a friend's house?
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Craft will be an hour late, but they'll smoke you up.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: And that's fine.
Julia: They brought the best snacks.
Amanda: Darth Bonez asked along those lines, was there any particular person each of you based voices on this season?" And Eric, I'd love to start with you. You've been watching a ton of superhero shows. Anyone stand out to you as you were thinking about NPC voices? I'm curious about Wordsmith, in particular.
Brandon: And you can't choose me, because I'm a superhero. Get it, Eric?
Eric: Why— yeah, I voice— I based my voice off of Brandon. No, I think I'm just giving keeping— myself open to what a lot of the voices that I think grok with the weirdness of NPCs right now. The— a main tenant of this particular thing, the— you know, that supplement that we talk about a lot that came from the third expansion of Masks. It's like, hey, remember to keep it weird. Like, it's a weird school. There's ninjas and wizards and stuff there, too. So I think I'm just give— trying to give people appropriate voices. And then if there are voices where it can be an inversion, that would be interesting, I'm keeping that in mind. I guess I'm really trying to distinguish characters more now that I have so many NPCs. That's what's really important to me.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Like I need Dr. Ram and Rick to sound really different, honestly. Even if it's just in tone or in, like—
Brandon: Cadence or whatever?
Eric: Or in demeanor.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Like, it's very easy for me. Now I'm like, "Okay, Dr. Ram does not have time for any of this bullshit. He's just exasperated with what's happening." And just says, "Okay, fine." And Rick is, like, very confident, and he's in— thinks everything he's going to do is going to be fine, so he carries himself like that. You know, Wraith is— Wraith's voice is just kind of it is what it is. Like, it's— I built— that is the voice of someone, of a teenage girl inside of, like, a ring Wraith, honestly. So just kind of trying to keep that going. For Wordsmith, that's just his voice. Like that is what makes sense to me about what a character who puts— has power into individual words, like, that's just what I thought would be fun.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I like it.
Amanda: Love it.
Brandon: Craft and Rowan, what about your voices?
Julia: You know what's interesting? Is there's not a lot of female stoner characters in media, and so I think the character—
Brandon: Because it's not a ladylike, Julia.
Julia: Well, too bad.
Brandon: Jesus Christ.
Julia: So when I—
Brandon: That was a joke. I hate it, I hate it. I'm sorry, everyone.
Julia: So when I've been doing the voice, I've kind of been picturing Travis from Clueless, like a mix of that and Shaggy.
Brandon: That's good.
Julia: So that's kind of where I'm at in terms of doing the Craft voice. And then I'm just like, "What makes it sound like I just smoked a huge bowl?"
Amanda: Love it. I've been having some accent slippage with Rowan. I've been— I tried to get into a New York City accent. I don't know what it sounds like anymore. I feel myself going Boston sometimes, I feel like the Long Island coming out in me.
Julia: It's not Boston.
Amanda: So I— I'm not quite sure, but I do have the excuse of— as of episode four, I am voicing two characters, which I don't know how you do it, Eric, it is a lot to have conversations with yourself.
Julia: Well, let's talk about the Voidie-Lynn voice, Amanda, because that came out of a joke, really.
Amanda: That 1,000% is Parker Posey in the White Lotus. Brae, Emily Slaughter's intern, absolutely snipped it. That is 100% what I'm doing.
Brandon: I don't think anyone outside of the New York area can tell a difference between Long Island and New York accent, so I think you're in the clear.
Amanda: Okay.
Julia: Cool.
Amanda: Good.
Eric: And Boston, too. No, it's all— depends if you're holding a Dunkin' in your hand or not, obviously.
Amanda: If that Dunkin' was prepared by somebody, yes, in the state of New York or the state of Massachusetts.
Eric: Right.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Eric: It's like, are you— did you just say kid and are you holding a Dunkin', or are you slamming on a taxi, saying, "I'm walking here."? Like the— I agree with Brandon. I think that's East Coast bias.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Do they say kid in Boston?
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, kid.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: All the fucking time.
Amanda: Wicked.
Brandon: The only way you know it is they go, "Hey, car, I'm walking here," or, "I'm walking here."
Julia: Uh-huh.
Eric: "Hey, Duncan, I'm Dunkin' here."
Julia: Uh-huh.
Amanda: "Hey, Brad Pitt"— no. "Hey, J. Lo, you shouldn't— you should date— you shouldn't date our boy again."
Brandon: Yep, a 100%. That's what it is.
Julia: There it is.
Eric: Amanda just did a pitch-perfect Casey Affleck. That's crazy.
Julia: Connor—
Eric: Brandon, how— so you're a teenager who wants to please people. How— where does that voice comes from?
Brandon: Well, I tried some voices, and then Eric was like, "Why don't you just sound like you?" So I said, "Okay, I just want to do a voice." And then it was just me.
Julia: What were your other voice options? Because I didn't hear other voice options.
Brandon: I was just having trouble on our first episode, like finding the right voice while we were recording. Yeah, there's not really any other good options for, like, you know, normal teenage boy voice, other than just normal teenage boy voice.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: So I don't know how to make it— my voice sound like halfway transparent, you know?
Amanda: Oh.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: We got to work on that.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: There's classes you could take.
Eric: I really wanted you to do that for two reasons. One is— I know I was joking before, but I think that you're— this, again, comes from tone. It's like Connor is going to be effusive. He's going to be, I guess, on some level, compliant. He's going to be trying to let everyone calm down and understand what's happening. But I think it's also helpful that, like, you to sound like you, and then I'm— and then all these NPCs are like, "Oh. Oh, my God. Is that your liver? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Brandon: Art imitates life, baby.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So it's— I think it's about, like, the free— the— it's about the transform playbook holding on to their humanity, which I think is why I encouraged you to hold on to your regular voice for this.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: I will say, Brandon, some people are missing Umbi. I— Dominique, who Insta— who messaged the Instagram said that her son misses Umbi.
Julia: Give a little shout out via Umbi, Brandon.
Eric: Can you just say hi to all of the fans out there?
Brandon: Yeah. Let me see if I can just, sort of, like, channel his spirit right now.
Julia: You gotta find him.
Brandon: Hold on, I gotta get really stinky. I gotta think about gumming some applesauce.
Brandon (as Umbi): Huh! Oh, my God, it's me. I'm Umbi. Huh! What am I doing here? Oh, my God. What is this? Where am I?
Amanda: Umbi, you're back.
Brandon (as Umbi): Oh, my God. What am I doing here?
Amanda: Can you say hi to your biggest fan, Damian?
Brandon (as Umbi): Hello, Damian. What— am I dead? Is this hell?
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Does it look like a Bat Mitzvah? No. No, we're not dead. We're not dead. We're just on Zoom.
Brandon (as Umbi): Zoom is hell. I've heard that.
Julia: Well, well, sometimes a meeting could be an email, so I feel Umbi there.
Brandon (as Umbi): I'm gonna die now.
Julia: Okay, bye, Umbi.
Brandon: He's dead.
Julia: Okay, cool.
Amanda: Wow.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Well done.
Julia: Did that hurt, Brandon?
Brandon: Actually, it kind of did, because I haven't done it in a while. I pulled it from—
Julia: Oh, no.
Brandon: —the wrong spot, you know?
Amanda: In terms of things that people are missing from previous campaigns, if any of our characters could have pets, would they and what would they be?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Have you guys ever seen those videos from like— I don't know if it's like Vogue or whatever it is. I don't know what outlet it is, but they do the, like, celebrity plus a bunch of puppies interviews.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: Connor with that puppies.
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Amanda: Covered in puppies.
Eric: Connor wants 12 puppies.
Brandon: Yes, yeah.
Julia: Yeah. He'd be such a good puppy dad.
Brandon: He would be.
Julia: He'd be so responsible.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. And they don't judge him.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: In fact— well, I wonder if they try to, like, eat his liver.
Amanda: They still can't smell it.
Brandon: True, true.
Julia: Then they just bounce against the skin. Boom.
Amanda: Julia, I can see Craft cozying up to a kitten.
Julia: Yeah, I think Craft would be a cat person. I think Craft loves another chill animal that will get, like, cozy, like a cuddly kitten.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Like a cuddly stray— actually, a cuddly straight cat would be like the way, probably, Craft would love. Like one with, like, a missing ear or something like that.
Amanda: Oh.
Brandon: That's cute.
Julia: Half a tail.
Brandon: I also imagine Craft being a lizard person. Not a lizard person but a person who likes lizards.
Julia: Craft would like a chameleon, kind of fun.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: That is really fun. I was just thinking— yeah, I don't know if Rowan would have interest in, like, having a creature depend on her right now, but I think if she did, it would be something very low maintenance, like maybe a wee gecko, or—
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: —as a kid, I had water turtles, like, mostly swimming turtles, and those are really cute.
Brandon: Yeah, that's good.
Julia: I could also picture Rowan befriending crows.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: Yes. Rowan is me.
Amanda: We're all independent, and we just exchanged tiny trinkets.
Julia: Exactly.
Amanda: So cute.
Brandon: I just watched Conclave this past weekend, and now, anytime I think of turtles, I just think of Conclave.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: And so I'm imagining, yeah, Rowan has a little, like, a side job, moving all the turtles that escape the college turtle pond back into the turtle pond, you know?
Julia: It'd be really cute.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Eric: Man, Catholicism is crazy.
Brandon: They elect— have you watched it? They elect a turtle as Pope.
Amanda: Wow.
Eric: Brandon, no spoiler.
Amanda: Eric, Darth also wanted to know if Rick powers is someone inspired by Suneater, a member of the big three in My Hero Academia.
Eric: No, I don't remember who that is.
Julia: That's the guy who he gets powers based on the food that he eats. So, like, if he eats octopus, he can grow tentacles and, like, you know, if he has—
Eric: Oh.
Julia: —a cow, he can grow hoof, I think, wings from chicken.
Brandon: He has cow, he grow hoof.
Julia: Cow, grow hoof.
Eric: No, but that's— I forgot about that. That's really interesting. That's just a good power. What a good idea. Thanks, My Hero Academia.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: So if he—
Julia: you're welcome, Eric.
Brandon: Does he have to be able to actually eat like— his name is Suneater. He can't actually eat the sun, obviously, because he's a human, right?
Julia: It's a reference to, like, a— like, one of his friends from childhood really hyping him up, being like—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: "—You're gonna be so powerful, you're gonna be able to eat the sun."
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: And he's like, "All right, that's my powers name now."
Amanda: Cute.
Brandon: I feel like there's a lot of limitations to this power, though. Like, I'm sure there's lots of creative things you can do, but, like, every time you have a meal, you just kind of, like, gain the power of that meal. Even— whether or not you use it, but like, you just, like—
Julia: Unless—
Brandon: —become a string bean.
Amanda: What if every time you ate cellulose, you could photosynthesize?
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Have we considered?
Brandon: Have we considered?
Amanda: Because then you could just get around eating all together?
Brandon: That's fun.
Amanda: Pretty good.
Eric: I would love to turn into corn if I ate corn. That'd be sick as hell.
Amanda: Dude, corn pollinates in the craziest way. Anyway—
Brandon: If you— wait, if you have soup, do you become liquid and then die because you— you're spread out everywhere?
Julia: I don't think so.
Eric: Brandon, you sound like the worst guy at Marvel in 1970.
Brandon: I was the worst guy at Marvel in 2016.
Julia: Brandon sounds like the, "Oh, we have to fill out the Charles Xavier School with more students, so they all have to have individual interesting powers."
Amanda: Quick, quick, quick, quick.
Eric: Oh, he turns into soup, and then he dies.
Amanda: Couple questions come in from At_facevalue. First, "Does Connor's aunt have a collection of first day of school photos of him?"
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: You know it.
Eric: Probably. Yeah, absolutely.
Julia: That's so cute.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: And they're all, like, so— like, he wears his nicest, like, collared shirts every time. It's really cute.
Amanda: Aw.
Eric: I guess I was thinking about this, has Connor grown since the incident?
Brandon: Yeah. I mean, like— you mean because the incident, or just in general?
Eric: No, no, no. Like, in those school photos, once—
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: —Connor started living with his aunt Anita, like, I wonder if the only thing that's different are, like, the signifiers of every year that Connor has been in high— in middle school and high school for.
Brandon: Yeah, a 100%. Yeah. And also, he's built now, you know, Eric, because he's got those gains.
Eric: Yeah, well— and, like, one year, you just had, like, a bad mustache?
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: That was this year, actually.
Julia: But no one can see it.
Brandon: Anytime someone says like, "Your mustache is looking like a little thin and patchy." He's like, "No, no, no. It's just— it— that part's just transparent. It's really full and lush."
Amanda: Actually, every— only like one— every 10 hairs has pigment, so really, it's like the thickest mustache ever. It's really hard to deal with.
Julia: Wow.
Brandon: Hey, Amanda, is that true?
Amanda: Who can say? My camera is not good. Secondly, "Is Dr. Prometheus' first name either Victor or Percy to keep—"
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: "—on theme of Frankenstein and Mary Shelly?
Eric: Yes. Absolutely. Dr. Prometheus is such a— is incredibly basic. You know what? His name is Dr. Prometheus. Come on.
Julia: I was gonna say his first name is Doctor, but, you know—
Amanda: Nice.
Julia: —legally.
Brandon: Dr. Doctor Prometheus.
Amanda: Do you think you could change your name to Doctor legally? Would they let you? Is it like license plates, where they sort of scan them for, like— if you were trying to say boobs, but made it a zero?
Julia: I don't think literally anything. I feel like there are limitations. But I bet you could name yourself doctor.
Brandon: I mean, Douchebag McGee named his kid like X-23 or whatever the fuck it was.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: So who knows?
Julia: X-23? He named his child after the X-Men character?
Brandon: No, it's too cool for that.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: You know what I mean, though.
Amanda: Speaking of great names, I have a new favorite patron name.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: Guys, we try not to pick favorites, but sometimes you really come through. And my favorite patron name is Chickn Bacon Ranch Melt because it makes me hungry. And so they asked a bunch of great questions about episode four, which was the second installment of the Interview with a Villain arc where we met Voidie-Lynn. We did a big fight, and we had a party in the dorms at the end of it. And so Chicken Bacon, which is what I'm going to call them, says, "Not sure if you answer this, but I have to know more about the mechanics and origin story behind Voidie-Lynn. Is a character like that part of the Nova playbook or did y'all have a brain blast?"
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Now, Eric, will you say, from your perspective, where this idea came from? Because it was very much a collaboration.
Eric: Yeah. So Amanda did a really good job at the Portland live show, which we did, after a few episodes, recording the campaign four. I think we had recorded three episodes, and then we all went to Portland, and we didn't record for a little while, because we were—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —figuring that whole thing out. And I don't know how much I want to say about the Portland live show, because we have the audio, so you'll— people can listen— we'll listen to that at some point.
Amanda: And the video. It's crisp.
Brandon: Is it purchasable?
Amanda: patreon.com/jointhepartypod. What's that? You can buy one time things on Patreon now? Let's check it out.
Julia: Let's check it now.
Eric: What? What?
Amanda: Let's go.
Eric: Amanda did that and I think Amanda was like, "Oh, I think Rowan's boring. She's just, like, conflicted, and she has a little voice, and she— sometimes she sounds like— come from Boston." And I'm like, "Oh, well, you should do something in the grand tradition of people on actual play podcasts do, which is give yourself your own NPC that haunts you.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And so I can't remember if I said, "You should have a manifestation of your gravity powers or"— if I said that or I said, "Oh, it'd be funny if you had a black void following you around, telling you to do stuff." But I think that, you know, there's a main conflict in the Void Playbook that— about whether or not you should or should not use your powers, something I have to push on as the person running that game. And I thought it would be a good opportunity for Amanda to do more ridiculous character work when Rowan is more serious.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Love it.
Amanda: 100%. Yeah. I was feeling pretty self-conscious about playing a stoic character after the wildness of Troy, and I feel like this was really the right choice. And something else you brought up too, Eric, is like in the advancements of the playbook, which we will get to soon. Like, there are ways that we could kind of, like, tie in the existence of Voidie-Lynn to central conflicts and powers in the playbook going forward. So I just kind of like thought about it. I was, obviously, watching Parker Posey on White Lotus. And, yeah, came up with— I was in the office one day, looking at this little Studio Ghibli, like the little ash sprite—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: —plushie that we have. And I was thinking like, "Oh, okay. Nope. That's it." And Voidie-Lynn came to mind.
Julia: Incredible.
Brandon: Love it. Here's a question from Brandon.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Do we think that the— because they spelled it, C-H-I-C-K-N, without the E, Chickn, it's like a vegan chicken, it's like the chicken patty.
Julia: Oh, yeah, probably.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: But then they added bacon.
Amanda: Yes, I do.
Julia: We have to stop talking about chicken and bacon.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: I'm so hungry.
Eric: See, I started eating before these recordings, guys.
Julia: I just got home 30 minutes before.
Amanda: Wise.
Julia: I didn't have time, Eric. I didn't have time.
Eric: That's fair. That's fair. Sorry. You need to stop following Jack Johnson all around Long Island.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: True.
Julia: I wish Jack Johnson was on Long Island. I'd go see him all the time.
Eric: That sounds good.
Amanda: A lot of people also asked if Miss Minutes was a voice inspo? Can someone explain to me who this is?
Julia: That is a character—
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Julia: —from the Loki television show.
Amanda: Nice.
Julia: Voiced by Tara Strong.
Eric: Oh.
Amanda: Cute.
Brandon: It's a sentient clock, orange, like, animated clock. It's sort of, like, in the vein of, like, Steamboat Mickey, but—
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Brandon: —like Southern and, yeah, she sounds like, "Hi, y'all, I Miss Minutes." You know, that kind of thing.
Amanda: Nice. Not too far off.
Brandon: Not quite that Southern, but in that vein.
Amanda: Ginger wants to know if Voidie-Lynn has opinions about Rowan's teammates. "If she does care enough to have some, I can't imagine they're positive." Yeah. You know that Voidie-Lynn is just shit-talking the hell out of these unambitious, morally good teammates whenever Rowan has a spare minute. And Rowan is constantly like,
Stop. Stop, that's rude. No, they're my friends. Stop it."
Julia: Damn. I can't wait to hear those comments.
Brandon: Is Voidie-Lynn just constantly talking to Rowan?
Amanda: I'm not sure, Brandon. I think Rowan is still figuring out how to cohabitate with a chaotic instantiation of her powers and responsibilities, so TBD.
Brandon: Well, we know Rowan has a roommate. Got 'em.
Amanda: That's true. ACosmoDot also wants to know, "Amanda, what inspires the keeping and revealing of character secrets mid-episode? First Troy, now Rowan. I know Aggie's mid-season reveal was related to the Time Shark, but it does follow the pattern." And it's like Eric said something that I felt weird about a few episodes in, and wanted to add because, you know, we'll hopefully be with these characters for a long time, and I wanted to make sure that I felt like I was, you know, carrying my weight of the drama and also having fun. So for me, I really like being able to surprise other players. The idea of Troy as a secret prince, you know, happened before the campaign began, but this one was a few episodes in. And so in Troy's case, I wanted to keep that secret in my pocket until it came up naturally, because that'd be a lot more fun for the audience and for me, to surprise my fellow players. And this one just really, like the Time Shark, came up almost as a result of recording.
Julia: Cool.
Eric: This one, Julia and Brandon and— I remember because I that was part of the clip, too. Julia and Brandon were just like, "What the fuck is happening? Like, what is— literally what is happening? I don't understand what I'm— what's going on right now."
Julia: I'm glad that Chickn Bacon Ranch Melt, oh, so hungry, mentioned like, "Oh, was this part of the Nova playbook?" Because that was one of the first questions that I asked as well. I'm like, "What is this? Is this like a Nova playbook thing? Like, what's happening here?" And Amanda was like, "No." And I'm like, "Okay, girlfriend. Whatever you say. You have a cool Parker Posey voice character that's following you around now. Excellent. Love that for you."
Amanda: Brandon, what were your reactions? What do you think?
Brandon: Yeah, my reactions are mostly the same. I was just, "Okay, what the fuck? What are we doing?"
Julia: Brandon, you can say it, "Okay, girlfriend."
Brandon: Okay, girlfriend.
Eric: I— okay, girlfriend, do whatever you want.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like, it's kind of nice to— I don't have to care about Voidie-Lynn, not my responsibility.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I just like letting Amanda cook, you know?
Julia: We always like letting—
Brandon: So—
Julia: —Amanda cook. What is that on the breeze?
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Thank you. Thank you.
Julia: Little fennel.
Amanda: SavedMan97 asked, "After meeting Cyberpunk, I feel like he's one event short of becoming a villain. So hypothetically, what event in his future might turn him into the villain, Technovirus?"
Julia: Cool name.
Brandon: Ooh.
Julia: Cool name.
Brandon: Technovirus.
Eric: Pretty good.
Brandon: I know what it is. It's when one of his wife, who rejects him for another man.
Julia: They— the AI gets too sentient and rejects him? Wow.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Damn.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, probably, right? I mean, Cy— I'll ask Julia, because Cyberpunk was Julia's idea.
Julia: That's true. I could— honestly, like, I see a world where Cyberpunk harassing Craft about her association with other villains somehow leads to him becoming a super villain.
Brandon: Interesting.
Eric: Maybe.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: I could see—
Eric: Yeah, The Cyberpunk doff protest too much.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. This was just Julia's idea. Julia's like, "Oh, this guy exists. Go ahead, do it. Do it."
Julia: I thought of a cool name and I was like, "I need someone who could do the thing— have the power set that I need for plot purposes."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: And then Eric said, "Okay, but he's a pervert." And I said, "Okay. I guess that's fine."
Eric: Shout out to Brandon for saying, "No, make it as Bane voiced as possible."
Julia: That was a good choice.
Eric: "No."
Brandon: No, you said that and I was like— I just was like, "Yeah, go, go, go. Do it, do it."
Eric: No, it was great. There is always attention, especially for doing this on a microphone, of like needing to prep and not needing to prep, because the idea of prep is like, you know, you're prepared and you know it is good enough to be entered into the canon. But at the same time is, like, if you don't prep— especially with Masks, because you're really not supposed to. It's like you need to let it unfold and just hope that your skills will make it good enough for the podcast.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: So it's like, you know, if you're gonna surprise me or something like, I have to just do it. Like, that's just what we're— that's just what— what's happening.
Julia: That's the fun of it.
Brandon: So are you telling me that anytime we have a problem or a conflict or something we have to solve, I can just make up— an NPC to like— can I make up an NPC called like Deus Ex Brandina? And it's just like, helps me out whenever I need it?
Eric: Yeah, think about the teenager who makes their superhero name Deus Ex. Goddamn it.
Amanda: Wow.
Eric: Terrible. That guy sucks.
Julia: Even Machina is a pretty cool superhero name, though.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: Is that just a robot who speaks Latin?
Julia: Yes. It's a robot that was built by Parancelsus— Paracelsus.
Brandon: That has survived this long.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Dead language, never alive body.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Hey, it's catchy.
Eric: It's good.
Brandon: Pretty good.
Eric: Brandon, don't just make up characters to solve your problems.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: Do it, Brandon.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: Do it. Uh-hmm.
Eric: Well, I mean, it's also— I mean, it's funny, because it's so much in— I mean, this is all type of RPGs, but in Powered by the Apocalypse as well. It's like, everything's a lever, and then you got to see if it goes well, if it goes next or poorly, you know?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So it's like, if you do that, you are introducing a character who might break in any sort of— you know, in any sort of direction.
Brandon: True, true.
Amanda: Speaking of which, Eric, The Goodfellow wants to know, "Were you surprised when players don't like your NPCs? And players, do you have an idea before the game starts of what classmates you do and don't like, or did it develop naturally, like sour Anthony?"
Julia: No, Eric does a voice and I say, "Oh, I hate that," or is like, "Oh, that's the coolest shit I've ever heard." And that's how we decide if we like the characters or not.
Amanda: Sometimes they're a precious baby, like Frög, and sometimes they are our worst enemy, like TeamCast.
Julia: I still don't trust Frög. Frög joined the—
Brandon: Hey.
Julia: —the cast way too weird. I don't know. I don't know.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: Frög is so good. Frög is a precious baby.
Eric: I shouldn't be surprised when they don't like my NPCs, because I have to— I have three characters here, at least— well, definitely two. I guess Julia is the exception, where Julia consumes media that has conflict in it.
Julia: Yurr.
Eric: While Amanda and Brandon do not. So—
Brandon: Yes, I do.
Julia: Brandon loves Andor.
Brandon: It's like 50/50.
Eric: It's— yes. Star Wars and then content with no conflict in it.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: And then those YouTube videos where the guy fixes things.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: I did seriously consider putting on CAT TV for myself the other day, so that's where I'm at.
Julia: Wow.
Amanda: I said, "No commercials, birds and squirrels? I mean, sounds good."
Julia: Okay, girlfriend.
Brandon: Okay, girlfriend.
Eric: Okay, girlfriend. So, you know, I don't set characters up almost ever. Like, intentionally, yes, sometimes I know you're gonna hate people. With villains, with, like, you know, with Rick Powers, I kind of assumed you were not going to like him because he was a smug--
Brandon: Rick Powers fucking rules, man. I don't know what you're talking about.
Julia: Brandon is a Rick Powers apologist, and we know how that ends up happening in campaigns.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: It's so funny. But, no, I just put them out there, and then they make determinations. It is what it is. I think that's most people. It's like you interact with someone and you get— you like them or they don't. So I— it hurts me on the inside when I make something and they're like, "Oh, this person sucks. I gotta be mean to them for the rest of the campaign." It hurts me sometimes, but I can't— I'm not surprised.
Amanda: And finally, before I pop into the kitchen to grab us some surprising flavors of seltzer.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Huh.
Amanda: It’s dill. This is from Opaque Connor.
Julia: Wow, that's a great name.
Amanda: What a coincidence. "Is there an in-universe justification for official superhero teams being exactly three members? It feels weirdly restrictive if the school doesn't have a reason. Of course, out of universe, it's because there are three players."
Julia: It's because triangles are the strongest shape.
Eric: Okay, interesting. Okay. I would say that in professional superhero teams are actually quite large, 10, 12, 14 members, when we're talking about the Justice League, when we're talking about, like, the connections of the Teen Titans. The Teen Titans are five and swell to larger than that.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: When we're talking about the Avengers, it gets larger and larger. And it feels like— and there's like tiers system. I realized this when I was consuming quite a lot of Justice League Unlimited, where they explicitly were bringing on as many people as possible to the Justice League, and this cartoon I was watching. So— and you just see, like, a tier system, so I think that making an inside of any large team, there's going to be sub-factions. So I think that making soup— making club teams three is also like the core member, and I think it's difficult— like, it's never going to be more difficult than with only three members, but I think that's the neck— that is, like, the minimum number for a, quote-unquote, "team" because I think a duo has different— is almost like your two halves of the same coin. You might as well be counted as the same superhero in— if we're talking—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —about, like, a superhero taxonomy for—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: —school. So, like, Hawk and Dove and Más y Menos, like— or Cloak and Dagger, like they're almost like they have to come together, so they're counted as one unit there.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So I think the three— you know, when you think about, like, a three-piece band, like Green Day, it's like, "Wow. It's really crazy. There's only three of you." And I think it's like, you're putting yourself into that pressure cooker in high school, and then you're going to go out and be able to do what you're going to do in a much— I— like, you know, things in high school are like, you're never going to do this other than in high school, so we're going to make you do it now.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Quite sure.
Brandon: Love it.
Eric: Praxis, pedagogy.
Brandon: Praxis, that's another—
Eric: Praxis.
Brandon: —superhero. There's a superhero named Praxis.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Or villain, super villain?
Eric: Ooh.
Julia: There's definitely some sort of superhero character named Praxis already, it must be.
Amanda: As long as it's not a superintendent, am I right?
Brandon: Ay.
Julia: Ay, yo.
Brandon: She's on fire.
Eric: Good job, girlfriend.
Amanda: All right, folks, I'm gonna go ahead and get my dill seltzer to get us through the second half. Be right back.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, everybody, it's Amanda, and welcome to the midroll, which smells like fresh pineapple mint. Hmm. Thank you so much to our newest patrons, Caroline T., The Great Brindlewood Bay Bake-Off got me here. Yes. Blue, The bard Ashley C. and Kira, who have helped us together get only six people away from our goal of 55, 5-0, new paying patrons. And once we hit that goal, we are going to play yet another One Shot from the character creation episodes of the One Shot Derby. Now, of course, if you're a paying patron, you already got to enjoy The Great Brindlewood Bake-Off. Yes, that is a hint as to the mystery on Friday. And I hope you enjoyed, I hope you loved the video. I hope you loved every single part of the episode, because we had so, so much fun making it. So thank you, again, to those who have joined as a paying patron. And hey, if you want to just try out what being a patron would look like, you can become a member for a free trial at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. We have also put the video from our Portland live show on sale, and we reference it in this episode. So if you want to get some inspiration about where Voidie-Lynn came from, you gotta check it out. That's at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. If you're already a patron, you should see the option to buy the live show if you want to. And if you don't, absolutely no stress. But we have the video of the live show right there on Patreon. Now, if you like Join the Party, folks, you are going to love the other shows that are part of the Multitude Podcast Collective, including Spirits, where every single week, Julia and me talk about folklore, mythology and the occult through the lens of feminism and queerness and modern adulthood. Each week, Julia explains another myth or folklore or urban legend from around the world to me, and we have a ton of fun. That includes mythological origins from franchises like Lord of the Rings and Wonder Woman, all the way up to modern urban legends. The Cool S, the game, you just lost, by the way, et cetera. Well, I lost properly. So come on over and hang out with us. We're going up on 450 episodes over the last— almost 10 years. So join us at spiritspodcast.com or search Spirits in your podcast app. We are sponsored this week by bookshop.org, my favorite place to buy books online. And they were also kind enough to put together a custom promo code for Join the Party listeners, code Join the Party is going to get you 10% off at bookshop.org. And the reason why this is a big deal is because bookshop.org is a incredibly wonderful, climate neutral, certified business that exists to support independent bookstores in the US. It's a B Corporation, meaning that it has to benefit, like, the public interest, and they basically share revenue with local bookstores. They've raised almost $40 million, that's 4-0, million dollars over time, and it is an excellent place to shop online, to get books delivered to you. Often, they'll source those books from local bookstores in your area, so it's a great way to keep your footprint low and your money going into the small businesses that most need it. So once more, go to bookshop.org to order books online or for pickup at your local bookstore, and use code Join the Party for 10% off your order. And now, let's get back to the show.
[theme]
Amanda: Folks, we're back. Doesn't it add a nice je ne se quoi?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: It's really tasty. I don't like all the leaves in my mouth—
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: —really, but—
Amanda: .
Brandon: —the taste is good.
Amanda: Weird.
Julia: Amanda, would you say it adds a certain je ne se la quoi?
Amanda: No, Julia, because there's herbs in it.
Julia: Ah, okay.
Amanda: Not just like a sneeze, and then the sneeze was like a little hint of problems.
Brandon: Gotcha.
Eric: Someone put a pickle in the next room while they were making this.
Julia: Wow.
Eric: Oh, I put my— I grabbed one out of the variety pack, and it's bread and butter.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Oh, no. Throw that shit away.
Eric: Ugh, disgusting.
Amanda: Eric, do you know who would never serve you subpar seltzer?
Eric: Oh, this could be anybody. I don't— tell me, transition.
Amanda: Emily Slaughter, girl boss.
Julia: Hmm. Oh, oh, baby.
Amanda: Who— she would only serve you her favorite flavor of seltzer.
Julia: Well, it depends. Did she go to Costco?
Amanda: That's a great question, Julia. Let's talk about Emily Slaughter's appearance in episode five, Interview with a Villain III. Eric, how soon were you planning to introduce Emily? Did you know that she was going to be a part of the first or second arc in this campaign?
Eric: No. In fact, Julia kept hitting the Emily Slaughter button, so she had to show up.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: I think we had, like, three actions, or at least three clearing conditions from Craft, which was bother Emily Slaughter was the consequence.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So I'm like, "Nope, she's gonna show up, and she's gonna show up hard."
Julia: And she did.
Eric: It was really important to me for Emily Slaughter to come do something dramatic and weighty. And I think that the thing with Broadsword was— I felt really good about that. I thought that was sick.
Julia: You felt good about the torture? Okay, Eric.
Eric: Yeah. Look at me, Dick Cheney.
Brandon: Eric 24 Silver.
Eric: Yeah, I have enhanced tabletop RPG techniques. Well, Julia, what did you think of that? I mean, I came down pretty hard and psychotic, but how did you feel about that?
Julia: I felt bad character-wise, great drama-wise. You know what I mean? Where, like, being in that situation, I think, was particularly really difficult for Craft, because Craft did not want to show, like, any sort of inclination towards emotional attachment to Broadsword.
Eric: Oh, for sure.
Julia: As someone who has, like lived, I guess, in proximity to Emily for so long, knowing that Emily would take any sign of weakness as an opportunity. Craft was like, "I'm not going to look at Broadsword. I'm not really even gonna talk to Broadsword, because then Emily might think I am a big Broadsword fan and might do something even worse to this man."
Eric: Just like, what are you supposed to do when you're around your dad's friend who's being tortured right now? Like, literally, what are you supposed to do?
Julia: Yeah. Like, in my mind, I'm like, Broadsword is essentially Craft's, like, godfather or, like—
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: —some sort of equivalent to that. And so, like, just looking at him would have just been a bad situation for her in general.
Eric: It's very difficult to get characters to take massive hooks.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And you need them, because that's going to be something that's going to carry through the entire campaign.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So stuff like this. So it's like I— you need to set up an insane situation with incredible stakes in order for all of this to kind of fit together, which is why I was feeling— I felt really good about. It's like, not only Emily Slaughter tricked you to go there, and not only was it immediately after you already were breaking the rules, but like, Broadsword was there too, and Emily Slaughter was trying to, like, helicopter parent, snow plow, parent your project for you.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like— and we were already, like, on the precipice of understanding that you were— you guys need to do your project. We're like all the way three sessions done, and you haven't done any rolls to work towards getting your project done. Like, I— there was a lot that came together there that felt really good— that I felt really good about.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Follow-up from Supershmup, "Has Emily lost the plot, or was she unhinged all along?"
Brandon: I think she's been unhinged all along.
Julia: I— yeah.
Amanda: This feels like a natural evolution of Emily years later, you know? Like—
Brandon: Her last name is Slaughter.
Julia: I also think that there's a certain amount of, like, you know, gaining a certain amount of power does morally corrupt a person.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: And Emily, I think, was ripe for moral corruption.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: For sure. I think she does a lot of, like, ends justifying the means, and she's the only one who can do it, which we saw from Campaign Two and then now being brought forward even more enhanced in Campaign Four. I'm very, like, inspired by all those like Taylor Sheridan shows that are not Yellowstone, but the ones that's like, "I'm a spy for the government."
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: And, like, the one that, like, Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman are in, Lioness. It's just like, "God, you guys are really doing extra military stuff, aren't you?" And like Emily Slaughter is the same. We're also seeing, when Brandon introduced Hero 4 Hire, just kind of as a standalone existing company that's just thriving and doing its thing. Like, we are definitely a few years after what happened in Campaign Two and it's more established. And Emily Slaughter thinks she can move with impunity. And this probably breaks her brain that this— her ward doesn't like her anymore.
Julia: Uh-huh.
Eric: So she's— this is— she's, like, pushing really hard on this. When you can always brute force a problem, when you always brute force a problem?
Julia: I mean, if it was easier, certainly.
Amanda: 100%. I just shrink myself, and then my roommate can be whatever size I want.
Brandon: I— whenever I brute force a problem, I just type 80085, and see if it works, so—
Eric: You boob force a problem?
Julia: That's what I always do.
Brandon: Boob Force is also a team at the school.
Amanda: Another huge change over the last few years, Tegan is now on Substack. Eric, how's that going for them?
Eric: Bad. Bad.
Brandon: It's not going well?
Eric: Oh, that was just a dashed off joke, but I think, fine. You know, this is what you have to do.
Amanda: They have the audience. They're a young millennial and therefore, relatable to the xennials. I think they're doing okay.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Local Lake Town City reporting is really crucial right now.
Julia: I can see Tegan running a— what is it? Hell's Gate style blog?
Amanda: Uh-hmm. Worker-owned coop.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Local-own— like micro-journalism, yeah.
Julia: Yurr.
Amanda: Love it. Something that might be covered on campus if we had a campus newspaper, which I'm curious if we might, campus blog.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: We'll see if that comes up.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: But Ginger said, "Glimmer's attempts to poach Connor make it seem like there are not as many, quote, "weird" looking students as I'd previously thought. Is there an idea in your heads as to how many people look normal versus abnormal?"
Brandon: I think it's a spec— like, it's a— it's all relative, right? Like, I'm sure there's lots of people who we, as humans, who live in this world to be like, "That person looks abnormal," but to them, that might be, like, more average. Whereas, like a fish person and a translucent person is like, "That's way off the deep end, pun intended." But I don't know. What do you think, Eric?
Eric: I think I'm giving Brandon more things to do with his transformed playbook. There's another tenet of that, and it's— I mean, it's true. It's high school, superficial. So I think that there is going to be a level of weirdness. And, you know, your level of weirdness is always going to be something that's like— looks cool or not. Like Connor, I think, rides the line between cool and disgusting. And there's like, you follow— you're kind of on that curry— on that continuum.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Depending on who you are and what your deal is. So it's like, you know, if Glimmer was like a butterfly girl, it might be— there'd be a different story. Or if she was a butterfly girl and had, like, butterfly eyes, it'd be gross, you know?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Does she have boobs?
Eric: Yeah, of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah. She definitely has 80085.
Amanda: Clocking in right here at the top of the hour—
Eric: Those are my measurements.
Amanda: Clocking in right at the top of the hour, it's the Question Surgeon, Dr. Michelle Spurgeon, PhD.
Brandon: Ay.
Julia: She scrubbed in.
Brandon: Scrubbing in.
Eric: Is it scarier after watching the pit—
Julia: Yes.
Eric: —knowing Michelle Spurgeon is scrubbing in? It feels more stressful.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Yeah. Dr Spurgeon, if you were just having a crisis on the roof with your friend who's also in crisis, reach out for help.
Brandon: I feel at ease. I feel— the questions are— I'm— I feel like I'm in good hands. Look at those eyes. That's that charismatic face, you know?
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Noah Wyle playing Michelle Spurgeon.
Brandon: Yeah. Thank you. You got my joke.
Julia: Beautiful eyes.
Eric: Shout out to Emily Slaughter, who's real and—real patron, Emily Slaughter.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: Whose name is Emily Slaughter.
Amanda: Yes, you are putting your money where your mouth is, unlike a girl boss, fictional Emily Slaughter, so thank you.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Amanda: Okay. So the Question Surgeon would like to know, "Is Emily a villain? And regardless, how did she manage to extract a villain from super prison?"
Brandon (as Connor): Is anyone a villain, man?
Julia (as Craft): You know—
Brandon (as Connor): Like, what is good and bad, man?
Julia (as Craft): —everyone's a villain. It just depends on, you know, how society perceives.
Amanda: Am I a villain for making money? If so, lock me up.
Eric: So yeah, guys, I've been really working on my voice work lately. How was that? Did you like it?
Julia: It was great.
Eric: Is it good?
Brandon: That was fucking impressive, Eric.
Amanda: Amazing.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: You pan yourself to different sides of my headphones.
Eric: Yeah, it was great. Yeah, I mean, great question, Michelle Spurgeon. How did she get someone out? She has a lot of power. She could do it that— she could rent a villain for a while and she has connections enough that she— what— I didn't— we say this in the episode? That, like, Broadsword got, like, some time knocked off his sentence—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —and that's why.
Brandon: I think so, yeah.
Eric: So if she has the power to do that, or get the people to do that, then she can just take him out. And that's why he was— that's why Broadsword was so compliant, too, and let Emily Slaughter mess with his, you know, magical sword.
Amanda: And, like, not metaphorically.
Brandon: And that's not a euphemism.
Amanda: Really, yeah.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: And the measurements of that sword, 8-0-0-8-5, pounds. It's really heavy.
Amanda: And finally, Dr. Spurgeon wants to know, "What happens to the Ooze's apartment when the garbage is collected? Is he okay?"
Eric: Is that his apartment?
Julia: Who can say?
Amanda: Does she mean— you think Obstructer Constructor?
Eric: No, she means the Ooze, because the Ooze keeps suits in the dumpster.
Brandon: Oh, he's nake-y.
Julia: I would say, who can say?
Amanda: Oh, no.
Eric: Who can say? Who can say who he is?
Amanda: Well, he has his laundry day suit, and then the rest get laundered, then he has, like, go find them.
Eric: Here's the wonderful thing about planning for Masks, is like, I do know the answer to that, and I know the answer to some other stuff. And it's just funny, you just gotta— you really have to roll with the punches.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: Like you really need to create, like, six doors and be okay if they walk through any of them. You know, you guys focusing in on Obstructer Constructor— here— okay. Let me tell you about this. Like, I knew that Obstructer Constructor signed AI-ART from the beginning. Like, that was in the episode, too. So, like, I knew that—
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: And I was there, and I always knew I had that thing, which I could use when Julia snuck— when Craft snuck into the closet. I'm like, "Oh, I know this. Here's your— here— now, I pull out this note from before, and now that's your success, now you have it.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: So it's very interesting to me that, for example, you all didn't go after the Cloud Cousins, Cloud Cover.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Which was also there running around. Like, open— when you have an open-ended project, you got to give open-ended solution— you got to give open-ended opportunities, and we're just going to see how it goes, as it goes.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Eric: And it's nice being able to focus that on, like, I guess, six hours of play instead of—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —you know, 10 hours— instead of, like, I don't know, 10 hours of play—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —in previous talks.
Amanda: Well, there must be a cache of more, you know, hints and successes buried somewhere, like, I don't know, Obstructer Constructor's weird, little fucking den in the dump.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Dig and roll, dig and roll, dig and roll.
Amanda: You're right. That is what we're doing.
Eric: Brandon is still trying to bring up dig and roll. That's crazy. Is it because Brandon had to roll a d6, then? And he really wanted to roll d6s.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: We should have known. This is a question from Ginger for you, Brandon. I love that Connor has a violence last mentality. It's actually very refreshing. I know the last fight was kind of his worst-case scenario, but on a good day, does he have a routine for unwinding after intense training or fighting?"
Brandon: On a good day— so are we— after training, yes. His routine for unwinding after training is like, you know, a nice, hot shower, maybe a sauna visit. Maybe— oh, and lots and lots of calories, of course, because—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —he's a grown boy.
Julia: Grown boy.
Brandon: He eats like Michael Phelps eats.
Eric: Hell yeah. Connor does a mukbang accidentally, because someone's just filming him while he's eating lunch.
Amanda: Is that what his roommate does for money? Wow.
Julia: Uh-huh. Rude, Frög, rude.
Brandon: And on the other side, if he's— has a fight, like, if— I assume you mean like a fight like, you know, that he wasn't intended. His routine for unwinding after that fight is exactly what you saw, which is panic, throw up, sweat so much that it feels like he's in a sauna, and cry, you know?
Julia: Oh.
Eric: I fucking love the consequences of take a powerful blow.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: I really, really do. When you fail that badly and you either need to take, like, 5,000 conditions or you need to get out is— I just— I love it so much.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: It really leads to some great moments for gameplay, which I am highly, highly enjoying. Which is a great segue into a couple questions we had about Masks. First, from Kazy, 3 Kobolds in a Trenchcoat. "How's everyone liking the degrees of success from a PbtA game versus the pass/fail metric of D&D?" For me, it feels great. Makes me way more likely to try things, because I have—
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: —some say in what happens, regardless.
Julia: Yeah, I like it a lot mainly because I feel like the threshold of success for a— I like the concept of the middling success versus a full success, because I feel like the concept of the threshold for success in D&D being like that D20 leaves very little room outside of it happens or it doesn't happen. You know what I mean?
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah, I agree. I like it, too. I think you could always throw that idea into whatever game system you're running, but I think how it's built and woven to the structure of a PbtA game is like— it's in there, so it's fun.
Eric: I encourage people to play games other than Dungeons and Dragons, truly.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: There's something also about— I think it's very explicit in Masks, but I think this is true a lot of times, is like, you know, the biggest problem with D&D, I think, is the number of like, "I need you to do this, so I'm going to make you roll until you succeed," sort of things, like— you know, like unlocking a door, right? "Well, I need you to get in the door, if you're going to get in the door, so you're getting— because that's where the stuff is, you know, I need you to, you know, go through there. But instead, it would be better for— it's like, "Well, I want to get through this door, but it's locked. Well, I want to go through this door, I'd say something like, "It's locked. What do you do?" And then you do it. And then based on what you do— and I— there's a roll for that, you just do it. But then depending on how you did it, then I can set up the next situation. You're only supposed to roll if you don't know what happens next.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I think is something that's emphasized in this playbook, so— or, I guess, like, explicitly using one of your powers, which is going to alter things during your direction, and I think that's really cool. And I'll kind of—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —alleviate the pass/fail, but really, I need to make you pass, because that's where the— that's where I need you to go.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: To a problem.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: A great follow-up from SavedMan97, "We've now experienced a large portion of the mechanics for Masks. What is everyone's favorite mechanic and which is the one you are still trying to figure out?" I like all of them myself. So players, as you're thinking, I'm reflecting right now on how fun it is to figure out how team points can be allocated.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: It feels like, you know, for me, initiative in 5e, I get self-conscious that my teammates are helping me too much. And, like, lending the help action—
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: —sometimes has no fictional justification, whatsoever. And so the fact that for team points, you know, the team pool grows and shrinks based on our conditions, if we're all aligned, things like that. And that only my number of teammates present at any given time can actually lend me that much assistance. And it's just like a finite resource we get to decide together, makes it feel less like I'm skirting the rules, and more like we are actually all quite involved in what each other is doing.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Hmm, yeah.
Julia: I think that it is sometimes a little frustrating to be like, "Okay, you're basically giving a help action. What do you do to help besides like— being like, "You go, Rowan. Your powers are better than you think they are."
Amanda: "On your left.
Julia: But it—
Amanda: Fair.
Julia: —you know, it is good that we have that mechanic in the first place. So even if it is, like, sometimes being like, "Oh, what do I do to help? Fuck." I think it is interesting and fun.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Well, I think that that's my responsibility to push you a little bit more on that, because, like, you don't need to do that. You can do anything because there's no mechanical— like, there's no HP, so you're not like— so it's like, well, Craft softens them up by electrocuting them. I'll just be like, "Yeah, sure."
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: "Whatever." Like, that doesn't mean anything. It's just like that's just how you're doing it, and for the— in the team, and that's how you're going to allocate the team. I think that— it's more, like, as long as you're there, you need to— you can do it—
Julia: Right.
Eric: —is— but you can— I think you should just be allowed to do whatever you want. Because I think that is the help problem. It's like, "I help by empowering someone. It's like, that's how you use the help action.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: But, you know, it could be anything for teen boys.
Amanda: What are your favorite mechanics we've had so far?
Brandon: I don't know if I have a favorite yet, because I'm still learning. But the one that I'm still trying to figure out, definitely, is influence.
Eric: Influence is a good one. I think it's, like, one step too crunchy, because I really like— I want everyone to have influence over you, and then you can flip it on them. I think that would just be easier. It's like— and anyone you meet, if someone says something to you about them, yourself or like your— how you see the world, like you probably will hear them and, like, that is a chance for me to shift your labels, which is always fun, right? And if it's like if every single adult has influence over you, like, there should be more— I think that there should be easier degradations to understand, like new NPCs or other teenagers to do that, too. So, yeah, I mean, it's just fun shifting your labels, too.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Because I can do it like mean. That's gonna be against something I know that's going to come up, or it's just like justified for what someone is saying to you at that moment.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: It's really cool. It's also a good metaphor for life. I mean, like the— you know, you fail mark experience, which is just a great thing to have in your mind at all times. I think that is as well. Like, people will tell you about yourself, and you get to decide if that sticks with you or not.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Julia, how about your favorite mechanic?
Julia: I really like piercing the veil. I think it's really interesting. It's one of those things in any sort of tabletop RPG that I enjoy doing as a character and as a player. Like, I love a insight check in D&D, and now I love piercing the veil. So, like, it is very interesting—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —to be, like, "Something feels hinky here. What's going on?" And I can kind of— I just genuinely enjoy doing that. It's very fun. It's a mechanic I wish I had in real life.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah, wouldn't that be nice?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: And Brandon, I want to talk a little bit about Heroes 4 Hire. So here's a great question from your friend and mine, Opaque Connor, "Why are Heroes 4 Hire so concerned with the team's use of the information from Connor's aunt? It's not like property damage Rowan caused can be traced back to them. Is Samantha or not-Chad super important for some reason and the team's attempts to interview them got in the way of a Heroes 4 Hire operation?"
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Hmm. I don't know. I truly don't know. As— it might be a who can say? I don't know, Eric, if you have anything else to say on that.
Eric: Wow, what an interesting plot. I hope it resolves itself.
Amanda: Connor also hazard a guess, Brandon. I'm curious about your thoughts on this one, "Is Heroes 4 Hire connected to SUPR in any way, S-U-P-R?"
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I don't know. I don't know. I think anything's possible in this sort of advanced timeline that we're on. I think also that like Connor— for in-world reasoning, Connor, with his, you know, dumb teenage mind probably thinks that like it's just like some sort of illegal to, like use information from a company that— like, it's some sort of copyright claim on YouTube—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —or something. Like, I think he's just panicking that, like, he somehow accidentally committed insider trading or something, you know?
Amanda: Well, I hope no consequences happen because of that.
Brandon: Definitely won't.
Julia: Probably not.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: No.
Brandon: No.
Eric: Achoo. Sorry, I was sneezing that whole time. I didn't— I couldn't pay attention.
Julia: Bless you.
Brandon: Oh, I cut out all of them except for the last one.
Amanda: I hope you're not allergic to the last section of this Afterparty, which is next time on Join the Party, AKA, who can say?
Julia: Who can say?
Brandon: Yay. Wow. I've used the same sound effects in season one. I've never heard Amanda say that phrase since then.
Amanda: Beautiful folks, I'd love to know, and so would Ginger, why is no one trying to find out what happened to Obstructer Constructor's wife? Was it a cover-up? Is she secretly not dead?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Is she a robot creature like his dinosaurs and she just got rusty?
Julia: Oh, no.
Brandon: Oh, no.
Eric: I think I said this right after we played, but I was like, "I find it so funny that you guys brought him there." He's like, "My wife is here." And you're like, "Okay, gonna kick you out, bye."
Julia: No. To be fair, we asked, do you want help with that? He said no, and I said, "Well, okay."
Eric: Well, what did you think he was gonna say?
Julia: Maybe he'd say yes, if he wanted some help. Who can say?
Brandon: But can you imagine telling some teenagers that my wife is dead and is in a lake? What are they— they're going to be like, "Uh—"
Eric: No— well, that's— Brandon, that's exactly what I wanted. Yes, Brandon, I can't imagine that. That's exactly what I did.
Amanda: Incredible. From the Question Surgeon, always thinking about the future, always thinking about possibilities, like Noah Wyle making a differential. Okay.
Brandon: So charismatic.
Amanda: So good. "Are the villains trying to start their own school?"
Brandon: I don't know.
Julia: Good question.
Brandon: Maybe.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I like that idea, though.
Amanda: Who can say?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: "How exactly does Heroes 4 Hire know that Connor got the information and that they, quote, 'used' it improperly? What do they even do, actually?"
Brandon: I don't know that either, and it's annoying me.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Who can say?
Eric: Maybe you should respond to any of the emails you've been getting.
Brandon: Eric, I have to play in character.
Julia: That teen boy would not be into that at all. He's not gonna make a phone call or send an email.
Eric: Nothing makes me happier that you are ignoring the emails. It's in the drones. It's so good.
Brandon: You know what is— it's exactly like, Eric? It's exactly like a teenage boy thinking that he— by clearing his internet browser history, he's hiding it from the ISP.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Yep.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. And finally, "So how did a 12-year-old girl become inhabited by a Jaguar guard in the first place?"
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I don't know.
Amanda: "And do we know, "Was the ooze trying to recruit her or kidnap her?"
Julia: I think recruit her. That's my guess.
Brandon: My guess is recruit, but I don't know. Yeah. Who can say?
Amanda: Who can say? And surely that ooze slithering off into the sewers is not gonna come back. But, folks—
Brandon: Got it.
Amanda: —that's next issue on Join the Party.
Julia: Oh.
Eric: Oh.
Amanda: Hooray. Folks, we did it. Our second Afterparty for the Campaign Four. Listeners, thank you so much for sending in your questions. We also released the One Shot Derby. So if you want to hear us play old ladies in Brindlewood Bay and Brandon, the— our secret keeper, our question keeper, crypt keeper, as you will.
Brandon: A crypt keeper.
Amanda: You can do that at patreon.com/jointhepartypod, where the video on demand version of our Portland live show is now available for a one time purchase.
Julia: Whoa.
Amanda: Whether you're a free member, paid member, or just sign up for Patreon today, you can check out that video.
Julia: Oh, my God.
Brandon: And also the Brindlewood Bay mystery is a great British Bake-Off theme.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: So if that's something you're into, old ladies and baking, I think you'd like this.
Julia: Those are both great things.
Amanda: We did just get a new patron named G-B-B-B-O, so it worked on somebody first.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Cute. Okay, players, well, can you just give us a teaser for next time on? Just for next issue.
Brandon: Oh, sure, yeah. Next time in next issue, Connor goes to tie his shoes, trips, follows into a vat of acid, becomes Con-Joker.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric: Nice.
Amanda: Oh, no.
Julia: I'm gonna say awkward flirting.
Amanda: Very good.
Brandon: Oh, yours is real.
Julia: Define real.
Eric: Well, you can't tell what's real, what's not. Who knows? I'm putting in a self-insert, which is the bear wearing sneakers.
Amanda: Very nice.
Brandon: So yours is also real?
Eric: Yeah, mine's also real.
Amanda: And I'm gonna say shivers.
Julia: Ooh.
Eric: Oh.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: Okay. Okay.
Julia: Me timbers. No, it's not pirates again.
Amanda: Not pirates this time. Well, folks—
Brandon (as Umbi): Huh! I'm back! Oh, God!
Julia: Oh. Oh.
Brandon (as Umbi): Wait, are we talking pirates?
Julia: Umbi, rest again, rest. Okay.
Brandon: He's dead.
Amanda: Wow. Okay, guys, we better sneak out before Umbi wakes up again. Thank you, patrons. Thank you, listeners, for listening to Campaign Four. Remember, get your friends on board. We're only six episodes in. They can catch up real easy. Okay, folks?
Brandon: Real quick.
Amanda: And we'll see you on Tuesday for the new episode.
Julia: Later.
Brandon: Bye.
Julia: Bye.
Amanda: May your rolls trend ever outward.
Eric: Hey, all you super friends. You want to get good together? You want to skip math together? You want to punch bad guys together? It's not that I haven't used my words, it's that nobody listens to me and I can shoot fire. 1, 2, 3, 4.