What is Glimmer’s deal? Who didn’t get invited to the hangout at the Funbratory? Do you know the original name for Candian pop punk band Simple Plan? All that and more in this Afterparty!
We’re playing Masks for this campaign! You can access a running list of all the NPCs from Campaign 4 here.
Find Us Online
- website: https://jointhepartypod.com
- patreon: https://patreon.com/jointhepartypod
- instagram: https://instagram.com/jointhepartypod
- twitter: https://twitter.com/jointhepartypod
- tumblr: https://jointhepartypod.tumblr.com
- facebook: https://facebook.com/jointhepartypod
- merch & music: http://jointhepartypod.com/merch
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 it's typically a thing you're not supposed to do on podcasts, but I will be making my way through a full quart and a half of cubed watermelon today as we record, because it is Moo Deng's birthday. It's July 10th, 2025. Moo Deng is one year old, and in her honor, I'm gonna just be eating this watermelon as we go—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: —in the Afterparty today.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: People are gonna love this. It's definitely gonna be good.
Eric: At least there's justification. You know, usually they just, like, do it. Kevin Durant just eats a bunch of pretzels on microphone, so I'm glad you had a reason at least.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Just kidding, folks. We're here for episodes 10 to 12 of Campaign Four. How are we feeling today, everybody?
Julia: Yurr.
Brandon: Not as good as Moo Deng, am I right?
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: I bet she gets special fruit today.
Brandon: I bet so.
Julia: It feels like we've had three years of Moo Deng, and I love that for us—
Amanda: I know.
Julia: —as a society.
Amanda: I know.
Julia: So—
Amanda: Incredible.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: It is weird how, like, life goes fast, but Moo Deng goes slow—
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: —over time.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: You know?
Amanda: Life in the Moo Deng. I'm gonna slip and slide it all night long. Okay. Let's get started with some wonderful questions about the world that we have built here in Jupiter. Eric, first one's for you, comes from our friend Moss, on a scale of one to 10, where one is not at all and 10 is extremely, "How much satisfaction do you get out of screaming words while being Wordsmith? Because honestly, I'm really jealous."
Eric: The fun thing about being the game master is you get to make whatever you want, and then you get to do your own running joke. You don't have to wait for anyone else to give you permission to do it. Yeah, I get a lot of satisfaction out of it. It was really important for me to feel like Wordsmith and Miss Rita, alongside of the school, but like being, like, the avatars of adults for the school were, like, fully realized, not only like teachers, but superheroes. Miss Rita, in a very sort of, like My Hero Academia sort of way, had, like, a— had a superpower that was low-key, but definitely helped her at her job, which is something we see a lot in the world-building of that anime. And on the other side, like Wordsmith having some sort of superhero career than stepping into being the principal I thought was important. So him having, like, very defined superpowers was very important to me, and trying to render that both in comic book and in podcasting was important. So I have satisfaction, both from the world-building creatively and also the fact that I get to do it all the time.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Brandon: So 10 out of 10, baby.
Eric: I'd say it's an 11 because I got—
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: I got creative satisfaction out of that.
Brandon: Spinal tap over here.
Julia: Dang.
Amanda: And what circumstances in daily life do you recommend people embody Wordsmith and kind of manifest and shout their own Esperanto? You know?
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: You know, I don't want to tell anyone what to do. Just like— just follow your heart. Follow the words.
Amanda: When it feels right.
Brandon: Have you guys seen those studies that say if you wordsmith at your plants, they grow faster?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: My mom actually believes in this wholeheartedly. When she waters my plants, when I'm out of town, she's like, "Don't worry. I talked to them." And then when I get home and say, "Thanks, mom. Looks great." She goes, "Did you talk to them?" So it's— she's very dedicated to this.
Julia: You're like, "Yes, I asked how they thought the conversation went when you spoke to them."
Amanda: I did. though, see a recent TikTok of an Abuelita who is just, like, intimidating her plants, like, "If we don't shape up, I'm gonna get rid of you." And I was like, "Whoa!"
Julia: Listen, we talked about that on Spirits. It's an—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —old wives' tale where it's like, if you threaten a plant that you're gonna cut it down, if it doesn't do better, it usually grows back.
Amanda: So true.
Brandon: "You better shape up, because I need a plant."
Julia: Yep. Yep.
Amanda: It's very good. Eric, another one, straight for you, from mell118, "Is the singer of the theme song a student or graduate of WE? Did the band form at school? For some reason, I need their backstory."
Brandon: Ooh.
Eric: This is not the first question we've gotten about who the singer of the theme song is. If this was a cartoon, I feel like— you know, I always go back to, you know, the new What's New, Scooby-Doo? television series.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Notoriously, theme song sung by Simple Plan of the album, which I bought, I think that— when I was 11. What was it? No Pads, No Balls, Only Heart or something?
Amanda: Wow.
Eric: That's pretty close to what it is. But I'm sure Brandon's already Googling and not listening to what I'm saying next. So you can just look that up.
Brandon: Brandon's Googling, not listening to what I'm saying next, so I can just look it up.
Eric: So you know, it's up to you. If Simple Plan was involved, they would have been the student at the school. But I don't know if— because it's also me, so I don't know.
Julia: Uh-hmm. It's very like '90s, 2000s to have a band that exists in the real world, also like—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —make a cameo on a TV show. And so in my mind, I'm picturing that in, like, the penultimate episode of the season, the band shows up at the prom and plays the theme song.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Ooh. That's fun. I like that.
Amanda: That's really good.
Eric: All right. I was so close. This album came out in 2002. Did you know Simple Plan was Canadian? They formed in Montreal, which is hilarious.
Julia: Wow.
Amanda: Like the bagels.
Eric: No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls.
Amanda: Ah.
Julia: Classic.
Eric: So close.
Brandon: Bagels. You know how the band is, like, The Bagels?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah. Every— people got it. People got it.
Eric: Wait, I'm sorry, Can I read the name of the guys at Simple Plan?
Julia: Sure.
Eric: Should I read their names to you?
Brandon: Yes, please.
Amanda: You can do whatever you want.
Eric: Like these are the guys who made the butt holiest rock out there, right?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: That made— they were the— so— of all the pop punk. Their names are Pierre Bouvier.
Julia: Oh, boy.
Brandon: Yes.
Eric: Chuck Comeau.
Julia: Oh, boy.
Eric: Jeff Stinco. His name is just Stinco. It is not French. Maybe it is. But the rhythm guitar and backing vocals, his name is Sebastian Lefebvre.
Brandon: That's fucking awesome.
Julia: Sick.
Amanda: Sick as hell.
Brandon: I love it.
Eric: I love it. And shout out to David Desrosiers, who joined on bass guitar and backing vocals in the early 2000s, but he left in July 2020.
Julia: Aw.
Eric: Didn't we all leave Simple Plan in July of 2020?
Julia: That's sad.
Brandon: It was a really complex time if you ask me.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: I think we all left our Simple Plan in July of 2020.
Amanda: We weren't leaving very often, so I think we left a lot of, like, groups, relationships, et cetera.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: All right, here's a question from Darth. "If all of your characters and Wordsmith for Eric were stuck on a deserted island that negated powers, what would you bring? Side note, I'm running an SW5E." Anyone know what that is?
Julia: Star Wars 5E.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Ah.
Amanda: Thank you, game. "And I would love for you to give me a few funny NPC names for aliens. The mythology I'm using is similar to Egyptian mythology because of Spirits."
Brandon: Hey.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: The guy who is the bartender at the— wherever the bar you want to put it— put, his name is Anubis Lippo.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: That's really good.
Eric: But you have to spell Anubis some other different way. I can't give you all the answers.
Julia: My first thought was Gorko Bust.
Eric: That's good.
Brandon: Gorko Bust?
Julia: That's a real Star Wars-esque name.
Brandon: Do they sing Jizz?
Eric: I— Brandon, I was thinking of the exact same thing.
Julia: They play Jizz.
Brandon: They play Jizz?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: And when he gets too drunk, does Gorko bust?
Julia: Yeah, Gorko does bust.
Brandon: Busting makes him feel good.
Amanda: I don't know. How about like— nope. My brain said,
"Osiris, you better don't. Amanda, that's a drag name, not even a good one." How about like Osiris Aleppo? Like the pepper, but with an O.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Oh, that's good.
Julia: That is also a very Star Wars-y name, Amanda.
Amanda: Thank you.
Brandon: Yeah. I was just gonna say Hon-duo myself, so I'll see myself out.
Julia: Cool. Uh-huh.
Amanda: That's really good.
Julia: Duat Blitz, that's a thing.
Amanda: Ooh.
Brandon: That's good.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: All right, folks. So if we were to get suck on a deserted island that negated our powers, what would we bring?
Julia: Our characters, specifically, yes?
Brandon: Our characters, yeah.
Julia: I mean, the answer is weed, but—
Brandon: Are you telling me that you have superpowers, Julia? Is this how you tell us? You, Julia? Yeah. So weed for Craft.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah. I think Rowan would feel kind of free to be in a situation where she doesn't have those powers. So, I mean, yeah, what does she rely on her powers for? Maybe, like, rope or a crowbar, like things that help her get leverage when Swiss Family Robinson-ing like a—
Brandon: Hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: —new place to stay.
Brandon: Coconuts, yeah.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. No, no, they—
Brandon: Got it.
Amanda: —got those there, but we gotta open them.
Brandon: Yeah. Sorry.
Julia: You had to bring the coconut.
Brandon: It was one step forward and— yeah, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I got— that is the, like, number one thing. Even to this day, as an adult, I would love to just like— that's like my fantasy, just, like, get deserted on an island and make a giant coconut-based—
Julia: Society.
Brandon: —tree house.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: That's so fucking cool, man.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Go visit my sister. We harvested, like, four or five coconuts from her tree.
Julia: Wow.
Brandon: What? That's cool.
Julia: Dang.
Amanda: Yeah. And she's like, "No, no, you want them to fall because they crack open, it's easier."
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: And I'm like, "Oh."
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Fair.
Brandon: I think Connor would just take, like, some snacks. I don't know what snacks exactly, but I think I'd say it's snacks. Popcorn, maybe.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: He probably would eat something really impractical, like popcorn.
Julia: Yeah, I was gonna say—
Amanda: Yeah, I was gonna say, not what you want. Let's go, like, jerky for the calories, the staying power, et cetera.
Brandon: Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
Julia: Nah, nah, nah, nah.
Amanda: Probably the best thing to bring would be, like, a huge vat of salts for food preservation.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: True.
Amanda: You know?
Julia: Well, you have the ocean—
Brandon: True.
Julia: —there, so you could, like, make your own salt.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Just harvest it.
Julia: Harvest your own salt, yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Eric, what would Wordsmith bring?
Eric: Wordsmith would have the portal gun from Rick and Morty on hand, just— but would give all of your— the students enough time to kind of work their shit out. And they would say, "Okay, we're going."
Julia: Fair enough.
Eric: Also, Simple Plan's original name was Touchdown 999, so just letting you know.
Julia: Wow.
Brandon: God, what a bad name.
Amanda: That's pretty good.
Julia: Wow.
Brandon: Jesus Christ.
Eric: I just thought I would share that.
Amanda: Now, Eric, something that we haven't really touched on yet. Does Water's Edge have a sort of, like, senior off-site trip, a la when they all get turned into birds and the magicians?
Eric: Spoilers for future episodes.
Julia: Dang.
Amanda: You’re right, that’s on me. That belongs in the next issue.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: I can't remember if someone asked this in the question or this was just in the spoiler channel of the Discord, but. But someone was like, "We're at midterms already, and then the semester is over, and then the year is over, and then the campaign's over." I'm like, "That's true, but I have so many more high school stuff to do here." So I'm keeping that in my pocket.
Amanda: Midterm's the fall semester, baby.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: We still got the spring.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Here's a question from pointypurplepenguin, "What is Rowan's relationship with her parents like? If she stays at school full-time, I assume it's not good. But are they alive? Did something happen to them when she discovered her powers? Are they embarrassed about having a, quote-unquote, 'freak' child?" I think I touched on this briefly in the character-building introduction sort of portion.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: But in my mind, Rowan is afraid to endanger her parents and to embarrass them. And so she stays at school, not because she has to, but because it feels safer and, like, she's protecting her parents in some way. They're very normal. They're college professors. They live in a rent control department in Lower East Side. And I think she just kind of comes up with reasons why it's inconvenient, or expensive, or something to come back to the city. So in my mind, she's only been back a handful of times since she got to Water's Edge.
Julia: Did her parents ever give her that impression or is that just teenage projecting?
Amanda: I think it's teenage projecting.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: I think they're very normal and pretty concerned with their own lives. And in my mind, like they had her kind of later in life, and they're one of the sort of, like— some of those parents who, like, treat the kid like an adult and, like, go about their lives. And so having her want to be independent at that age, they're just like, "Okay. Like, do your thing. Whatever."
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: You know? And living their own lives.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So can you give me, like, three super flimsy excuses that Rowan's parents have just kind of believed?
Amanda: Yeah. The speed train has no kosher options.
Julia: Cool. Fair enough.
Amanda: Secondly, someone needs me at school, and there is like a exchange student who, you know, needs someone to show them around for the break.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Oh, from what country?
Amanda: Tajikistan.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: And then thirdly, service project.
Julia: Fair enough.
Brandon: Service project.
Amanda: Some candles.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Service project, no follow-up information.
Amanda: Yeah. Uh-hmm. And here's one from fatherofthebird, "How often do you guys think about the Coriolis effect? After One Shot Derby II, I think about it almost daily."
Julia: Not a lot. Not a lot.
Amanda: You know, I did it to remind myself what that was, so the answer is not very much.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I think about it constantly.
Eric: In middle school, there was a kid who I did— I was in, like, a lot of accelerated classes with, and who I did Model UN with in—
Brandon: Nerd.
Eric: Yeah, Brandon. Yeah, for sure. Hey, his name was David Schwartz,and he talked about the Coriolis effect all the time.
Amanda: Weird.
Eric: He also had like, a little bit of a lisp, so he would call it the Coilles effect.
Brandon: Yes, dude.
Eric: And he knew everyone thought it was funny, so he said it all the time.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: He's now— is very rich and successful, so, like, it's fine. He, like, went to Penn and is doing great now, but I think about the Coilless effect all the time.
Brandon: That boy's name, Barack Hussein Obama.
Eric: That's true. So I've had the Coriolis effect tattooed on my brain since I was about 14.
Julia: Fair enough.
Amanda: Incredible. Folks, let's move on to the questions concluding the What's In The Box? arc.
Eric: God, that feels like forever ago, doesn't it?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Let's begin with Opaque Connor. "Eric, is one of the potential consequences for trying to look in the box and rolling low. Quote, 'You see the contents of the box fully, not just a glimpse?'" Because you shared with us that one of the options is that we get a glimpse of what is in the box, but can you share with us now that the arc is over, that full table of possibility?
Eric: Yeah. So here's the custom move that I wrote down of looking in the box. On a success, you catch a glimpse. On a mixed success, you catch a glimpse, but you irrevocably change the box, or you double clutch and it's fixable. So, like, you— at the last second, you pull back and you have to, like, fix the box being messed up. I think I was just going to take a hard move against you if you failed, because, you know, the whole thing about moves in Masks is, like, you don't know what happens next, so let's figure it out. Because, like, it's not about whether or not it's good or not good. It's about, like—
Julia: Someone knowing you looked?
Eric: Yeah. Like it would have been like, this is bad, depending on what the situation is around you. So I didn't write down necessarily what the fail was. So, you know, if you were in a situation, maybe if someone had looked in the box when you were in the Ad-Magistrator's room, and you looked at it fully, and you felt the pull of putting the light bulb into the light socket, yes, maybe you could have seen that fully and it could have overtaken you, but I'm not exactly sure.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Eric, I have to tell you something. I have to admit that me the player, Brandon, looked in the box.
Julia: What?
Amanda: While editing? Brandon.
Brandon: Sorry. Sorry.
Julia: We're gonna have to do a hard move against Brandon now.
Brandon: I know.
Amanda: Damn. What if all management disputes could be solved by hard moves?
Julia: Wow.
Eric: I think that already does happen.
Brandon: Yeah, it kind of already is that.
Amanda: You're right. You're right. Shit. Fuck. All right, here's a question from soupdmpling, "I wanna say Glimmer in What's In The Box? I didn't say she wanted to come with them. She just demanded they show her what's in the box. Now, I assume that was just typical teen poor communication, but I feel now like she's manipulative to get what she wants." Players, what do we think?
Brandon: Glimmer? I don't think so.
Julia: I'm pro Glimmer. I don't know what you're talking about.
Amanda: I really came around on Glimmer.
Brandon: No. Glimmer is the worst.
Julia: Brandon say hard no.
Eric: So the players are aligned with their characters feel— about how they feel about Glimmer.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Eric, do you have an intention with how you portrayed Glimmer and what she wanted during that scene?
Eric: I mean, you know, I have some thoughts, but honestly, more matters— when you're in high school, especially with your friends, more matters how people see you. And the fact that she got two out of three of you to like her now. Honestly, it all kind of shook out, didn't it?
Amanda: Quite true, quite true.
Julia: Well, now, I feel manipulated, so—
Eric: I don't know. Like, you know, it's just like— it's just teenage stuff. Like these— you know, I'm thinking about this stuff infinitely more than any of these characters. Even the adults, like, actually do, right? Like, I think about their intentions, what they want, what they don't want, how it fits into the conflict, but like, Glimmer is just doing teen shit. She's doing what she thinks. Like after, you know— all the time I— for being a high school teacher and being a summer camp counselor, like you ask a student why they did something and they're like, "I don't know. I just thought I should do it." I think it's difficult to balance, like, the intentionality of the stuff I'm trying to get across, telling a story on the show with what so many of these impulsive teenagers are doing. And also the adults are supposed to emulate the same thing. Like, adults aren't in Masks that's in the book. Like Masks— adults in Masks are not supposed to necessarily be paragons of virtue and the teens are idiots. Like, they also act impulsively. They tell you how the world works and tries to force you to change depending on they— how their perception of the world works. So it's like— it's a hard balance to say.
Amanda: 100%.
Brandon: Makes sense.
Amanda: For some more Glimmer backstory, Mike would like to know, "Does Connor like Rowan and was he jealous because she wanted to kiss Glimmer, or did I misunderstand the situation?"
Brandon: I— you know, headcanon to headcanon, whatever you'd like, Mike.
Julia: What's Brandon's headcanon?
Brandon: Brandon's headcanon is not that— I think he just— Glimmer pissed him off.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Because she was rude. Like, she was a dick at the party.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: And then she, like, tried to, like, nag him. Like, she, like, you know, was like, "Come join the team."
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: And he was like, "I don't know." And she's like, "Well, you're stupid and bad and you can't join the team anyway." Like, that's annoying. So, yeah, of course, he doesn't like her much anymore.
Julia: Brandon, thank God you don't watch Love Island. That's all I have to say about that.
Amanda: Seriously. Seriously.
Brandon: I'm imagining the people on Love Island are not the best people.
Julia: Well, some of them are great.
Amanda: Okay, back to it. This is just the Glimmer corner now, because TheInjuredEngineer wants to know, "What athleisure brand is Glimmer?"
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: "Alo? Fabletics? Lululemon? This is critical information." And we do have some audience sort of weigh-ins here, if we're not certain. My first instinct was definitely Fabletics, because I think it's like the cheapest, most sweatshop athleisure you could possibly buy.
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Julia?
Julia: I don't know anything about athleisure brands. The only one I recognized here was Lululemon, and I know they're terrible.
Amanda: We have some options here from the audience. pointypurplepenguin says, "She is, for sure, popflex. Not sure why. It just feels right." Haven't heard of that one. That's how you know I'm in my 30s now.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Popflex sounds like one of my NPCs.
Amanda: Yeah, it does. And then InjuredEngineer weighs in that,
That makes sense, because you can never be too careful with the Pilates girlies." Accurate.
Brandon: The Pilates fish are even worse, you know?
Eric: My first thought was that she got the Lizzo Fabletics collaboration.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: That was my first impulse.
Julia: I will say the tagline for popflex is, "Designed with a Why, everything you could ever want, flirty, sexy, comfortable, and she," in all caps, "SNATCHES YOU IN."
Brandon: Oh, no.
Amanda: Yeah, that's right. You know that that waist is cinched.
Julia: Uh-hmm. They have the, like, pirouette squirt, if you've seen that on the TikToks and whatnot.
Amanda: Sure.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Well, I have to agree with you, penguin.
Eric: I'm thinking about Don Draper right now being like, "That's not a tagline. That's just a description."
Amanda: Folks, I'm— I need a minute to kind of recover from how much that tagline included, so I'm gonna pop into the kitchen real quick and refill our tray of golden watermelon for Moo Deng.
Julia: Yay!
Brandon: Woo!
Amanda: We forgot about it, but it's still here.
Eric: Julia, thanks for editing out all the times Amanda went, "Hmm, watermelon," during the first half of the episode.
Julia: "Ooh, pineapple."
Brandon: "Hmm, Moo Deng."
Amanda: It's even worse that I have to look at it like, I can’t--
Eric: "Hmm, Moo Deng."
Brandon: "Moo Deng. This watermelon's good."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, everybody, it's Amanda. And this mid roll is brought to you by the smell of tomato plants, which don't smell like tomatoes, but if you've never smelled them before, it is honestly one of my favorite smells in the entire world. Thank you and welcome to our newest paying patrons, Eli King and Bess C. You now have access to our patron-only Discord, ad-free episodes, our biweekly Party Planning podcast, and more. Brandon did an incredible Party Planning last week, so you have got to go check it out if you haven't already. All of that and more is at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. If you are enjoying Join the Party, you are going to love the other shows that are a part of the Multitude Podcast collective, because all of us explain the things we love to you in a way you can enjoy and appreciate, whether or not you're into it already. And so if you're like, "Wow, it's kind of cool how our entire world is made up of, like, electrons and stuff. You know? Like, all of us are made of atoms, and that's wild. But, like, what does that mean?" You should listen to Tiny Matters, which is a podcast about how science shapes every single part of our lives. It is an award-winning podcast about tiny things, from molecules to microbes that have a huge and often surprising impact on society. Hosts Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti embrace the awe and messiness of science and the world as we figure out how scientific discoveries and progress and research shape and are shaped by society. It is such a good show. Y'all are gonna love it. Go look up Tiny Matters in your podcast player and listen to it now. They have new episodes every Wednesday. We are sponsored this week by our friends at Rolling with Difficulty. This is a planes hopping actual play podcast where every episode is a complete adventure tying into campaign-long arcs, just like your favorite TV shows. This summer is a great time to join the fun with the premiere of their third campaign, which is called Hunting Party. They enter the beast lands as our heroes journey into the wild to defend the natural order from invading aberrations. They also have a second campaign called Open and Shut, where you solve mysteries alongside private eyes. And if you like space, which I think you will, then their first campaign, Per Aspera is for you, where the crew of the Per Aspera, Spelljammer, odd job their way into saving the world. So go on over and check out Rolling With Difficulty on your podcast platforms and on YouTube with animated battle maps. Remember back in 2017 when I was a brand-new player, coming to Join the Party, learning how to play a tabletop role-playing game for the very first time? I know that at the time, I was so excited to be a new player, because I got to show, hopefully, the other people listening who maybe had never played a TTRPG, or they're interested, or they're— they like DND in theory, but they're worried about, like, getting the rules wrong, that there is no getting the rules wrong in tabletop RPGs. It's here for fun. So I was so excited to learn about a podcast that I'm going to recommend to you today called Girls Who Don't DnD. None of the all-women team of players has ever joined a DnD game before, or any other role-playing game for that matter. They go from learning which dice is which to challenging the gods themselves. It is so much fun and it's so welcoming to people who don't necessarily know what to do when they sit down to join a campaign, because neither do they, but they quickly find out together. It's beautiful, chaotic, heartbreaking, so funny, and they're Australian, so for us Americans, the accent is top notch. So go on over to Girls Who Don't DnD in your podcast app. And I'm warning you, folks, it's pretty addictive, pretty heartwarming, pretty heartbreaking. You're gonna love it. That's Girls Who Don't DnD. And now, let's get back to the show.
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Eric: So, Julia, in the second half of the episode, you can just keep in all the times Amanda goes, "Oh, this watermelon is so good." Like, don't edit it out.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: Our audience, unlike the woman of Love Island, Lizzo, they want our authenticity.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Now, if you could— now, in actuality, Julia, if you could just cut that— Eric doing that and repeat it every two minutes for fun.
Julia: I simply can't do that. It's not an enjoyable listening experience. I will put it at the end, though.
Eric: Oh, hey, Brandon. Brandon, can you do it? Brandon, is it like— it's— is it like a time and experience issue? Can you just do it?
Brandon: No, I think it's mostly a— Julia called it, you know, ultimate arbiter of the AP.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah, you're right, Eric. It's a skill issue for me.
Eric: All right. Yeah, it's a skill issue.
Brandon: Real quick, does the golden watermelon taste anything different than other watermelon or just golden—
Amanda: It does. It tastes kind of milder. And it's very crunchy.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: It's like very crispy.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Which I enjoy.
Brandon: Oh. Milder than watermelon? It's already pretty bland?
Amanda: Yeah. I know. Right?
Julia: So water, it tastes like water. Crunchy water.
Amanda: It tastes like slightly sweet, crunchy water, basically.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Yeah. That's what I'm going for.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Okay.
Amanda: All right, folks. We are on to the midterms arc.
Julia: Midterms.
Amanda: Good stuff. InjuredEngineer also starting off this half of the episode by saying, "Wasn't expecting my Alma Mater to catch strays while listening today. If the A in Texas A&M stands for amphibian, what are some of their weird traditions? And here is my disclaimer that we aren't a cult, just enthusiastic." Now, Julia, does that meet the cult criteria for a high control group?
Julia: Here's the thing is, I don't know a lot about Texas A&M, so I can't possibly say. Can I have some context?
Brandon: I will say, then, because my brother went to Texas A&M for his undergraduate. I went to the University of Texas for one year, so I have all the information I could possibly need. And I will say probably a cult, but, like, a really bad one.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Like, not, like, very effective or useful one.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Got it. A mild cult.
Brandon: At least if you go to one football game, you'll say, "That's a cult."
Julia: I think that's true of any sport, though.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: No, but the Aggies take it to a certain to a certain level.
Julia: So what's an example of the real weird traditions as opposed to the amphibian one? So that I can riff.
Eric: Julia, can you just edit in, like, a lower third to when Brandon's talking? Be, like, college football rivalry, just like flashing really loudly underneath it.
Julia: Sure.
Eric: That would be great.
Amanda: In the audio, you want this lower third?
Eric: Yeah, in the audio, please, put it lower third.
Julia: It's just me going, "College football rivalry. College football rivalry."
Eric: Take everything Brandon saying from a— if you're not from a college football state, this might be confusing to you.
Amanda: Sure.
Brandon: I did have to look it up, just to refresh my brain, because it's been a while. But I think the probably most cult-y thing they do is before the night of a home game, a home football game, they do midnight yell, which is where they go to the stadium at midnight and they practice all their stupid, little yells, like they— which are, like, their—
Julia: Right. Like their little chants and stuff. Sure, yeah.
Brandon: Chants and— yeah. Things that they do during the thing—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —so they're all, like, on the same page. And that has to be at midnight, of course, because they have to sacrifice the virgins there, too, so—
Julia: Sure. Makes sense.
Amanda: That just seems logical to me, because sometimes I go to a new to me sporting event and I'm like, "Who taught them all these chants? Everyone knows them. Damn."
Julia: Just from experience.
Brandon: Is it necessary for them to do it at midnight and sacrifice virgins, though?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: I think you probably added the virgin part, but midnight just seems like a round time that we can all remember.
Julia: Hmm. Uh-hmm, Uh-hmm.
Brandon: The other thing is a Gig 'em. That's what they say. So, you know, think of that what you will.
Amanda: Now, are you saying ‘gingham’ in a Texas accent?
Brandon: No. Gig 'em. Gig 'em.
Amanda: Is this like when you say drawer or pen?
Brandon: What do I say, drawer?
Eric: Why do they say the phrase "Gig 'em"?
Julia: What does it mean?
Brandon: That's just the thing.
Eric: What does it mean?
Brandon: It means Gig 'em.
Julia: All right.
Eric: Okay.
Julia: All right.
Brandon: I don't know. It means like—
Eric: Uh-oh. Sorry, I picked up this banana that Brandon threw at me while we're recording this podcast.
Brandon: It's like their slogan, like their thing that you say.
Eric: Oh, it's like their go— it's their Go Team thing, right?
Julia: Okay.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah. They say it all the time.
Eric: Like, in Alabama, they say, "Go Tide." And Michigan, they say, "Go Blue."
Julia: Sure.
Amanda: Roll Tide.
Eric: Yes. They say, "Roll Tide."
Amanda: I don't want you to get yelled at, so—
Eric: No, I live in the Northeast. I'm Jewish. It's fine. I don't watch college football.
Brandon: They do have a really cute dog, though, so I will say that.
Julia: Okay. My school had a cool dog, but also it was not a cult, so—
Amanda: So, Julia, with this knowledge, can you world build a little bit for me of the Texas Amphibians and Mechanics University?
Julia: Okay. I think that there's a big fountain in the middle of campus, and everyone does their weird chants while standing in the middle of a fountain.
Amanda: Great. That also happens at Dyke March, by the way.
Brandon: Love it.
Julia: Sick.
Amanda: Good stuff.
Brandon: Is that when you march on a dam or is that something else?
Amanda: A rock peninsula? No. That's where all the women who like women get together during pride.
Eric: Yeah, all the lesbians go to Hoover Dam and are like, "Wow."
Amanda: Honestly, that sounds great.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: All right. Here is a question from Mike. "I didn't expect Connor to be able to turn into a fish. Lol. What are exactly the characteristics of his powers? Can he grow bigger or smaller as well? Are his powers similar to Aggie's from Campaign Two?"
Brandon: I think it's sort of, like, not undetermined, but I'm sort of discovering them as we go a little bit.
Julia: Classic.
Brandon: And, like, so what it says on the sheet is just transmutation of flesh, which is vague on purpose, because I read the book and it was like, "Yeah, whatever you kind of want it to be. Like, it could be this, it could be that, it could be that." So there's definitely some options there. In my head, it's mostly, like, sort of, like, just melty stuff.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: And then, like, you know, being able to mo— it's not quite like Mr. Fantastic, where it's like stretchy, but, yeah, that's what I'm going right now. But I don't know, could I reserve the right to change my mind?
Julia: There was, like, one particular character. I'm thinking like Mercury from X-Men, but there's a character named Inque in the Batman Beyond series—
Brandon: Ooh.
Julia: —that, like, can kind of turn into a sort of liquid shape shifty form.
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Julia: And so that was what I was picturing when we're describing it.
Brandon: I do remember Inque now. Yeah, I think it's pretty good example of, like, yeah, what I'm sort of thinking. Almost venom-y, almost— but not quite so stretchy.
Amanda: Right.
Julia: Hey, why don't you guys record that scene? Was that before we sat down for the first session of Midterms or was that like a after the fact sort of thing?
Eric: We recorded it right before we recorded with you guys. That's why I kept saying, "Hello, Brandon, this is the first time I'm recording with you today."
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: I just thought you were doing a bit.
Amanda: I was like, "What did I miss? Like I listened to the episode, like, what?"
Julia: Truly just thought you were doing a bit.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: See, that's what I was saying, is, like, we— forget we were talking about this, but yeah, that could just be an Eric bit that he decided to do.
Eric: Yeah, if you want to hear the full reactions of Amanda and Julia talking about it, we record the beginning of the next arc right after Midterms I came out, so you can hear that.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Gotcha.
Amanda: Here's a question from Jeff | Tattooed-N-Tall, who we've met in person. So cool.
Brandon: What up, Jeff?
Julia: So cool.
Amanda: "Who is the one student that no one remembered/thought to tell about the party at the funbratorium? Like senior year of high school, when almost the whole class went off for St. Paddy's and no one told me until the next day." Smiling with a sweat emoji smiling.
Brandon: Oh, no.
Julia: Oh, no.
Amanda: But Jeff, now you're both tattooed and tall, and if I remember correctly, an engineer, so you're fine.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: I feel like maybe, at the last minute, somebody was like, "Oh, my God, did someone tell Frög?" And then Frög is, like, eight beers deep at the funbratorium, who was there first.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I'm trying to think of like— what powers would make someone a little bit ostracized in high school? Would it be like some sort of narc power, or is it like some sort of gross power, or like—
Amanda: Something really mundane.
Brandon: Or too hot power? You know?
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: I don't know.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: There has— someone has to have a power that makes them like McGruff the Crime Dog. Like, they can smell drugs and chemicals.
Julia: Hmm. Oh, bummer.
Amanda: That would be a bummer.
Eric: Yeah. And the only thing that's different about them is they're like a teenager, but have a dog nose, so it's upsetting.
Julia: It's kind of adorable when you think about it.
Brandon: Do you know those motherfuckers go for, like, hundreds— a couple $100 on eBay—
Eric: What?
Brandon: —now?
Amanda: McGruff the Crime Dog?
Eric: Oh, the plushies?
Brandon: The puppet thingies, yeah.
Julia: Huh.
Eric: Wait, we didn't get— we didn't— I don't know if we got puppet.
Julia: Yeah, we had man in suit, like a mascot.
Brandon: Oh, God, that's horrible.
Eric: I only know about McGruff the Crime Dog like as a cartoon mascot, like, fully two-dimensional.
Brandon: Yeah, they may— I think it's a puppet. It could just be, like, sort of a doll thing, but it's probably like, you know, foot and a half.
Amanda: Dang.
Brandon: Maybe two feet tall, soft, sort of plushy thing.
Julia: Huh.
Brandon: But they're rare and, like, almost— a lot of schools had them, so like— but they didn't, like, make them commercially.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: So now they're rare and—
Amanda: Got it. Collectors' item.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Collectors' item. So now they're fucking on eBay for a couple 100 bucks.
Julia: Interesting.
Amanda: Brandon. Do you think that 100% of the people who buy those plushes have them, like, hold bongs in their homes, or is it more like 98%?
Brandon: Well, my mom has, like, four of them, so I think it's mostly—
Julia: Why did your mom have so many?
Brandon: Because they make a couple 100 bucks on eBay, and she had access to them as a teacher.
Julia: Oh, okay. I thought, like, she was the one buying them.
Amanda: I was gonna say, if she gave an anti-drug presentation in clown gear, I will be very tickled.
Brandon: No, I mean, she was a teacher in Texas, so there was a lot of that shit.
Amanda: Sure.
Brandon: But she was the counselor, so she had to be sort of, like, there, but—
Amanda: Oh, got it.
Brandon: —she did not particularly— she liked the people who did those things as people. She did not necessarily like the presentations.
Julia: Fair enough, fair enough.
Amanda: Got it. Any other headcanons about who was left out of the funbratorium Invite? Surprised we got an invite, frankly.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I know. I was trying to say that would be Connor, wouldn't it?
Eric: Craft needed to tackle a separate student in order to get the invite, if you remember correctly.
Brandon: Oh, I have one idea. What if someone's powers were, like, slow powers? And so, you know, when they went on the rides, and the slow power person went on the rides with him, they're like, "Oh, yeah, this is gonna be so much fun." And they like— and the ride sucked, because, you know, Mr. Slow makes it all boring.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, that'd be tough.
Brandon: You know?
Eric: Wait— hold on, wait, imagine you hack the electricity system to bring like, oh, God, the water flume of chemicals up and running, and then you're on with slow motion Steve. Like, I did so much hacking to make sure that this was fun, and now Steve's over here making everything go at 300 FPS. That sucks.
Julia: Bummer.
Amanda: But for someone like me who does get motion sickness very easily, it would be great to go on like the teacups with Steve.
Brandon: Oh, that's so good. Amanda, have you, related to motion sickness, tried to watch that Netflix show childhood— it's about the kid who's in trouble with the law, the British show?
Amanda: No.
Brandon: I tried to watch it because it's gotten really good reviews, so it must be really good. And it's all handheld, one single shot thing.
Amanda: Oh. Yeah.
Brandon: And it is the most sick I've ever been—
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: —in my entire life, watching anything, including The Blair Witch Project.
Julia: Wow.
Brandon: It was worse than that.
Julia: That's impressive.
Amanda: No, I barely sat through that alien movie, what— with John Boyega.
Julia: Are you talking about Attack The Block, Amanda?
Amanda: Attack The Block. Yeah, I am. Attack The Block has some handheld shots, and I got through it for him. Ugh. All right. Here's a question from Emily.lundstrum, "Okay, so the honorable Dr. coach Reverend Boneman's sweatsuit. Does it change with her as she changes forms? Does it magically disappear when she turns into different animals and only comes back when she's a human? Either way, I got a very good laugh out of the idea of a T-Rex in a sweat suit. But is a clothed spider scarier than a naked one? Like bone animals don't usually wear clothes, but is that her vibe? Much to consider. Thanks."
Brandon: The show is called Adolescence. You're welcome, everyone listening.
Julia: Cool.
Amanda: Thank you so much.
Brandon: First question, is a clothed spider scarier than a naked one? No.
Amanda: No.
Brandon: That's hilarious.
Julia: I think it depends on the clothes.
Amanda: That's like the gorilla knitting. I'm picturing just like fully hand knit, sort of like a crochet vibe, you know, chunky sweater.
Brandon: What— wait, wait, wait. Julia, what clothes make someone scarier?
Julia: I think a spider in a, like, three-piece suit would be kind of scary.
Amanda: A doctor's uniform.
Brandon: I don't know, because that makes it so human. It's like, "Oh, now, I can just, like, say, what up to you. Even if you're a gangster, it's like I understand the level that we're on, you know?
Amanda: Very Peaky Blinders of you, Brandon. "How dangerous could he be? He's wearing a three-piece suit."
Julia: Eric?
Eric: What?
Julia: What's the answer to the question? Does the—
Eric: Oh.
Julia: —sweat suit change with her form or what—
Eric: Oh, you know, whatever. I'm just like, "I have to come up with superpowers with these people." And then I'm like, "And they need to—
like, what are they wearing as teachers in between, you know?" I just keep not thinking about it. The whole time I was thinking about how funny it was that this— that the spider had, like, spider bones all the way through.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: You know, like, when you see a skeleton and there's, like, bone breasts, so that you understand that's a lady penguin. It's like that's not how it works.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: But I like the, you know, British dinosaur fossil thing that they're doing here.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So, yeah, no, I mean, whatever you want. I think it's funny if this sweatsuit changes with the fossils.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: I think any universe with super-powered individuals and people of varying body sizes, like we have at Water's Edge, will be very good about, like, ultra-stretchy fabric. That feels like a must.
Julia: Yeah. I mean, the entire superhero genre has, like, been focused on the idea of like, "And the costume changes with the powers."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: So it's not anything— we're not doing groundbreaking work here.
Brandon: Now, on the other hand, though, it would be fun if, in a world of superheroes, everyone just had to have, like, one of those, like, rolling closets, like—
Amanda: Oh, yes.
Brandon: —rolling wardrobe things—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —just full of sweatsuits. Like, 4,000 sweatsuits on there. And so every time Dr. coach, reverend Boneman changes form, she has to, like, quickly put, you know, pants back on or whatever it is.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Brandon: I think that's fun.
Amanda: A very like Doug's closet situation.
Julia: Any sort of comic book/cartoon character.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Doug from Doug?
Amanda: Yeah. Didn't he have a closet of, like, all the same sweaters and all the same pants?
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: I don't know.
Amanda: Is that Hey, Arnold?
Brandon: Oh, yeah, he does. That's so funny.
Amanda: Probably.
Julia: Hey, Arnold is the one you're thinking about, Amanda, but yes.
Amanda: Okay. I mean, come on, we see Doug in the same outfit. All right, let's get into the second episode of Midterms, where we meet Liminality and many other exciting developments. Here's a question from terencium2, "If you guys could have Liminality's items, IRL, which one would you pick?"
Eric: Ooh.
Brandon: Good question. It would be really fun to have those dang rollerblades.
Amanda: The older I get, the more I'm like, "Are all my rollerblading days behind me?" Because my ankles never were that strong, and I'm more scared of falling than I was as a kid. But, God, it looks so fun.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I— Amanda, I hate to tell you, but I think your rollerblading days are behind you.
Amanda: They are behind me, yes.
Julia: Amanda, consider roller skating, it's a little bit more stable.
Amanda: You're right. You're right.
Brandon: Although I think when you turn like, you know, 80 or whatever, like when you're truly an old person, but you're still mobile, at least, like you could go back to rollerblading, because then you're that cool, old person that, like, rollerblades, you know?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: You gotta have a thing when you're old, Julia. You gotta have a thing.
Julia: Brandon, I'm just thinking about how many people die from broken hips when they're 80.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: And I don't want to tempt fate like that.
Amanda: Yeah. If my 86-year-old grandmother was like, "I'm taking up rollerblading." I'd be like, "Are you sure you don't want to take up driving an electric golf cart instead?"
Julia: Have you considered?
Amanda: Because that sounds great.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: I just— look, my point is that I need everyone here to start thinking about what their thing is going to be when you're old.
Amanda: You're right, you're right.
Brandon: So—
Amanda: Long-term planning. I'm into it.
Brandon: —long-term planning, yeah.
Julia: Mine would be the jar of dirt.
Amanda: Very good.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Do we know what that does yet?
Julia: No.
Brandon: Did we say?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Goddamn it. So we have jar of dirt. We had fucked-up monkey's paw. We had eyeball that's a globe.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: What were the other ones?
Julia: A silver, Victorian hand mirror that has a skeleton inside it.
Brandon: Yes. Yes.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. That one is mine.
Julia: Gotcha. Cool.
Brandon: I kind of want just like the spin-y eyeball globe.
Amanda: You would.
Brandon: It's just fun.
Amanda: You'd have that in your house.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: The whole time that you three were talking, I was just like, "I think I could fool a monkey's paw. I think I could get good shot at that thing.
Julia: You could.
Eric: I bet I could do it.
Brandon: Eric, that's the whole thing, is you can't.
Amanda: Everybody thinks that.
Eric: No, no, no, no, no. I could do it. It would be fine. It would— me, I'm different.
Julia: Eric with wax wings strapped to his back, "I think I could get close to the sun."
Amanda: "Just right. Just right. Just right."
Julia: "I could get up there."
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: "You know?"
Eric: If I flew too low, I would go in the sea, so I have to fly high up. Yeah.
Brandon: Of course, of course.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Eric: For sure.
Amanda: Speaking of dangerous professions, Ginger wants to know, "Hey, Eric, does working at Heroes 4 Hire mean there's a chance they yoink your face?"
Brandon: Huh.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: What's going on there?
Eric: That was cool. I— that was a cool thing that I thought of. Don't worry— you know, don't worry about it. Like, don't think about it too much. I think when you take a corporate job, your face gets yoinked anyway, so I don't think—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —that's out too far outside of—
Amanda: Like metaphorically.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And realistically.
Brandon: And realistically if someone's— yeah.
Julia: Like Severance, but it’s your face.
Eric: Yeah. I didn't have my face when I was working at SiriusXM. I had to get it back as part of my severance.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Don't worry about it.
Julia: Okay. Fair enough.
Amanda: Katja is worrying about it because they ask, "Do we know who runs Heroes 4 Hire? I'm getting a generally bad vibe."
Julia: What about it is giving you a generally bad vibe? Is it the, like, waterboarding torture that they're doing, or the, "Hey, let's go kidnap some kids," kind of thing? Like, what's going on here for you?
Brandon: Here's the thing that I don't— and I don't want Eric to answer it, not that he was— would necessarily. But, like, it's very confusing, because on the one hand, we have those two agents who seem to be sort of rogue.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Maybe, I don't know. But even if they're not rogue, Frög.
Julia: Rogue, Frög.
Brandon: Even if they're not Frög, the— all they're trying to do is, like, figure out what happened to their colleague and, like, get her back. Now, their methods, I will not disagree potentially, even though they didn't do any of it. But, like, the talking about their methods suck.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: But, like, are they bad? I don't know. I can't tell. I don't think they— I don't know. I don't know.
Julia: You're forgetting also that Emily Slaughter works for Heroes 4 Hire.
Brandon: But does she or she's—
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: —sort of like a freelance—
Julia: Pretty sure she works for them.
Brandon: —girl boss, you know?
Eric: She said that she controls the budgets in some sort of way. It is not clear whether or not she's a freelance girl boss, or works there in any sort of formal capacity.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Maybe she's on the board. Doesn't do much, but gets paid.
Julia: That sucks.
Brandon: Maybe.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Maybe.
Eric: Y'all should go watch Lioness, one of the Taylor Sheridan spy shows that's on Paramount Plus. That shit's wild.
Brandon: Eric, we're not gonna fucking watch that show.
Eric: I know. We've already talked about Tulsa King and no one wants to watch it, but this one is different.
Brandon: You already talked about Lioness as well.
Eric: Oh, yeah, 'cause it's a great show. That show rips. But, yeah, it's just like the wild, unilateral, like, paramilitary vibes of the stuff that happens on that show is like stuff that I was just thinking about when doing Heroes 4 Hire nonsense.
Julia: Fair enough.
Brandon: That's fair. That's fair.
Eric: Nicole Kidman plays a character who is so similar to I— how I think Emily Slaughter, like, conducts herself. I just find it so funny. And the fact that like Nicole Kidman shows up to be like a United States Black Ops, like administrator is just really funny.
Brandon: I love it.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Amanda: I bet Nicole Kidman, in that show, does not have any tattoos, which is my segue into Katja's next question, "What would happen if Connor got a tattoo? Would it be visible? Would it appear over the translucent patches of skin? Would it last?"
Brandon: I don't know. I imagine— okay. So he has skin—
Amanda: Good start.
Brandon: —so he would be able to get the tattoo.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Like that would happen. And I imagine that, on the one hand, you know, if that patch of skin, started to turn not translucent, then, he would see it, for sure.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: But I think even if it were translucent, like, if you put a sweater on, the sweater does not turn translucent, so—
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: —I think you'd be able to see it.
Amanda: Because the ink is in, like, a subdermal layer, so it's not the dermis itself, but I think maybe you could see it, like, suspended in the, like, fat layer where the tattoo ink actually lives.
Brandon: Yeah. So maybe one day that's what Connor will do, is just, like, get fully tatted up, so you can always see them, you know?
Julia: Whoa. Might be cool, though.
Brandon: Whoa. Whoa.
Amanda: Now, is it an appropriative tribal tattoo? Is that what he's going to go for?
Brandon: Almost certainly.
Julia: Damn.
Brandon: It's all Chinese characters.
Amanda: Soup would like to know, "Is Liminality, the Puzzle Cleric's great, great, great grandchild?" And I do have to say, we had some agreement in the Discord that people were getting Puzzle Cleric vibes from Liminality.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: No, that's just what happens when adults who don't know anything about children talk to children.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: That's just what they're like.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Such a welcome vibe.
Brandon: Although I like that headcanon, though. I think that's fun.
Eric: They both think they're really cool, and then think that's going to get a bunch of 15, 16, 17-year-olds to listen to them because of it, and the teenagers are gonna see right through them.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Just like Connor.
Julia: You're never cool to a teenager. Just keep that in mind. Any adult, any person over the age of, let's say, 21, you're never going to be cool to a teenager.
Eric: No.
Brandon: Unless they want beer, then you're very cool.
Julia: Hmm, even then.
Amanda: Then you're just useful.
Julia: I think they're just manipulating you.
Amanda: This is true. The other day, I was picking up dinner from Chipotle, and there were a bunch of bikes, like, strewn across the sidewalk in front of the Chipotle because there are a bunch of teens inside. And I did think to myself, "Okay, what would be my comeback if these teens make fun of me?" As I was walking back out of the Chipotle with my food. Which I don't think teens would do, and also—
Brandon: No.
Amanda: —I wouldn't say— I would just be like— then get back in my car. And the comeback that my brain came up with was, "Well, I have a car."
Julia: Fair enough. "I have a driver's license."
Amanda: "Well, I have a car, so—"
Julia: "You're not even on your parents' insurance."
Amanda: "You have a bicycle because you're 15."
Brandon: "Just wait you get kicked off at 26."
Amanda: Anyway—
Brandon: Real quick before we go on, talking about— this is a little bit unrelated to anything, but talking about Icarus and Daedalus, just, like, unlock something in my brain that I need to ask you about.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Uh-oh.
Brandon: Do you— I remembered watching a cartoon of the Icarus story and the wax wings and stuff, and I was trying to figure out what it was. Do you guys ever watch or remember this thing called Adventures from The Book of Virtues?
Julia: No.
Amanda: That sounds—
Brandon: It’s like an education--
Julia: That's the most Texas public service thing I've ever heard, Brandon.
Brandon: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Amanda: Brandon, that sounds Christians.
Julia: No, no, no, no, no, no.
Brandon: It's not Christian. No.
Amanda: It's not Christian?
Julia: The Book of Virtue is not Christian?
Eric: Yeah, just like the United States isn't Christian.
Brandon: Nope.
Eric: You're right.
Brandon: Well, yeah, it's kind of like that, actually. That's a good point. That's a good reference point. So it is vaguely Christian, of course.
Amanda: Okay.
Brandon: And I had that memory, and I was trying to figure out what the fuck it was. And it's a animated children's television series based on the books, The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories and the Children's Book of Virtues, both by this guy named William Bennett, who served as a secretary of education under Ronald Reagan.
Julia: Yeah, Brandon, that's not Christian at all. That's not Christian at all, Brandon.
Brandon: It's— but Julia, I just talked about Greek— I just talked about a Greek myth, so it's based on Bible stories, fairy tales, fables, mythology, and folk stories from the different cultures--
Julia: I'm sorry, what was the first one you put there, Brandon?
Brandon: Just because somebody has Bible stories doesn't mean it is all Christian.
Julia: Oh, buddy.
Eric: Hey, when this Greek dude died because of his hubris, he went to Christian hell. That's the end of that story.
Brandon: But it aired on PBS originally, so that must have been where I saw it. But it was such a flash ball memory. It was so weird.
Amanda: That's really sweet. I'm glad you had that recollection, and I will never forget the moment of saying, "It's Christian, right?" And you're going, "No."
Julia: "What? No."
Brandon: It's not— okay. There's four hosts with, like, the two kids, and the hosts are called— are named Plato The Bison, Aurora the red-tailed hawk, Aristotle, the prairie dog, and Socrates The Bobcat.
Julia: Oh, my God.
Eric: The funniest thing about it is that this guy was secretary of education, and it was his book, and then he put it on PBS.
Amanda: Yeah. Like professors making them buy their textbooks.
Brandon: That's true.
Eric: Yeah, that's— exactly.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: It's like, "Hey, PBS, I got this banger series of stories, you should adapt it. Don't worry, it's from The Book of Virtue. It's not a Christian book."
Amanda: The royalties will trickle down from the Department of Education budget to me.
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Oh, my God, there's some guest stars, an illicit guest stars. Kathy Bates—
Julia: Yeah, there's some wild ones in there.
Brandon: —Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Wow.
Brandon: —Mark Hamill. But I also just want to say, you guys need to raise your bar for what Christian is, because there is a thing that I did watch which was like— oh, God, I don't remember what it was called, but it was like, you know, The Adventures of Bible man or something. Like, you guys need to raise your bar way higher.
Julia: I think Texas just needs to lower the bar, Brandon. I think that's the problem.
Amanda: Yeah. Texas starts at like— I mean, we're also made the Christian soup, but Texas is like a different kind of scale.
Brandon: The— this show is, like, Christian, like, fucking under oath is Christian, you know?
Amanda: Yes, yes.
Brandon: All right, we can continue.
Amanda: Damn. Here's a question from Violet, "In high school, everyone but seniors had to take midterms."
Eric: That's so— what a good idea. What an absolute good idea to let seniors not take midterms. That's wonderful.
Amanda: "I remember panicking as a freshman and cramming the night before mine. What would be these characters midterms as a freshman that they stressed out about?"
Brandon: Hmm. That's kind of weird to me that they didn't—
Amanda: Right?
Brandon: —take midterms.
Amanda: I mean, I like it, but the idea of having a day-off as a senior is intoxicating.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Yeah. And I guess these would be like superhero-ey classes, right? Or are we talking about just like regular classes?
Eric: No, they got both.
Julia: I think for Craft, it would have been something like superhero business, or something to that effect.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: And as a quick aside, did you know that the movie Click was based off of one of The Book of Virtue Stories?
Eric: I did not. That's incredible.
Amanda: What?
Brandon: Eat shit.
Julia: It's loosely based on one of the stories in virtues called The Magic Thread, which follows the story of a workaholic family man, Michael Newman, who acquires a magical universal remote in order to control reality.
Brandon: I think you guys need to cover this on Spirits, for sure.
Julia: No, I refuse.
Eric: And then Adam Sandler goes to Christian hell at the end. Yeah, I remember the movie.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Well, it isn't quite that dry of global mythology, but we'll note.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: We'll note it.
Eric: And going back to Julia's point, the funniest thing about superhero business, as an educator myself, is, like, superhero business was definitely an elective that only juniors and seniors could take. But Emily Slaughter pulled strings and made Shelley Craft do it freshman year, right?
Julia: 100%.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, like, I could see why she's freaking out, because she's the only freshman in the class.
Julia: Yep, yep. It sucks. It sucks.
Brandon: I get the feeling that Connor would, like, panic about a home ec class and, like, getting his, like, bake right, and not his like— not having a soggy bottom kind of thing, you know?
Amanda: I really want to see Connor at The Great British Bake Off now.
Brandon: Me, too.
Amanda: And Brandon, for that matter.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: I think Rowan would probably want to get some of the general education requirements out of the way, and so maybe she took health, and was kind of freaking out a little bit over—
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: —some of the, I don't know, like birth control and, like, sexual health modules.
Julia: Yeah, because you're 14.
Amanda: "Like, I just— I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it." Did everyone else's health teachers in middle school make them scream the words penis and vagina to kind of normalize those terms?
Brandon: No.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Well, we took the same class, so yeah.
Brandon: I grew up in Texas, so we didn't have any of that, except for abstinence and—
Amanda: Ah. Yeah, you just had the bathing suit area. That's for God only?
Brandon: Yeah. We learned—
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: —slightly more health stuff than evolution, but I'll say it's zero to 0.1, so—
Julia: Geez.
Amanda: Oh, boy.
Eric: So all of you had to stand there and say, "It's never gonna happen until I'm married, just screaming at each other to normalize it?"
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Exactly.
Amanda: For my husband only. Okay, here's a question from Ginger, "If your characters had to swap powers for another set, which would they pick? Bonus points if it's an existing character."
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: I think Rowan would take Rick's just to prove that she could beat him with or without his powers.
Julia: That's cool. I like that.
Brandon: Oh. I've always really liked ice powers. I think that's fun, because, like, sort of like, yeah, in X-Men and what we've done, like, making a slide that you can slide down via ice powers.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: It's just— that's just fun. I would be doing that all the fucking time.
Amanda: You would.
Brandon: Just go to the grocery store. You know? That'd be so fun.
Amanda: You'd make like an arc from your roof into your office, so you could, like, garden and then get back in for recording. Uh-hmm.
Julia: Now, Brandon, is that your choice or is that Connor's choice?
Brandon: I realize this is for your characters, but I got really excited and that's what I want.
Julia: That's fair. That's totally fair. Totally fair.
Amanda: Julia.
Julia: I think Craft would want to be one of the teleporters on campus.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Julia: Because I think Craft would love to just, like, be lazy and be like, "And I'm in class. And now, I'm back in my dorm. You know, just chilling."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: What is Craft now, though, if—
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: —not lazy?
Amanda: All right, folks, those are all the questions, apart from our Who Can Say? corner, aka Next Issue on Join the Party.
Julia: Woo.
Amanda: Here's one from Katja, "Is trading your powers painful? Is it dangerous? Maybe I missed the implications during the episode, but that seems like a huge deal."
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: It sure does, Katja, and we don't know.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Just like sex.
Brandon: Hmm, hmm, hmm.
Eric: That shit is sure implied.
Julia: Hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Just to say out loud, sex shouldn't be painful. If it's painful, either talk to your doctor or—
Amanda: Or— yeah.
Julia: I'm joking. It's a joke.
Brandon: We have lots of young people who watch— who listen to this show.
Julia: Fair enough.
Eric: All right, everyone stand up and say, "I'm not gonna have sex until I'm married, so we normalize it."
Julia: No.
Brandon: I'm gonna have lots of sex until I'm married.
Amanda: We're gonna say, "Safe, sane, consensual, enthusiastic consent."
Brandon: Yay.
Amanda: Yay.
Brandon: I don't think I could literally say that, though.
Amanda: Here's a question from ac47092_, "Rowan's powers seem to be controlling all particles. Does this mean a nuke is possible?"
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: Uh-oh.
Amanda: Uh, good question.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: And from Chloe, "What are your thoughts—"
Julia: End of statement.
Amanda: "What are your thoughts on what happened to Anita? I've been wondering why she's been suspiciously quiet lately, and while I'm relieved to know she isn't ignoring Connor, it's alarming she's gone. The last people likely to have seen her clearly have no idea what happened, since they're blaming her own nephew. Did Connor accidentally, quote, 'get rid' of his aunt by destroying the papers in Mr. Furnace? Eric, WTF is going on?"
Eric: Mr. Furnace sounds like a toy you got in Toys R Us in, like, 1995. Like Mr. Bucket.
Amanda: It's very collectible on eBay now.
Julia: It sounds like a knockoff version of Mr. Burns from Simpsons.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Bart versus Mr. Furnace.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. Who can say, though?
Amanda: We don't know yet, Chloe.
Julia: We certainly don't know.
Amanda: Who can say?
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah. I'm so sad.
Julia: Aw, I'm so sad, I'm so sad.
Amanda: We'll get her back for you, bud. We'll get her back.
Julia: We'll do it. We'll do it.
Amanda: Folks, that's all we have for you today on the Afterparty. Don't worry, next week, you will get another brand spanking new episode, because there are no bad Tuesdays in this life, not since Join the Party eradicated them.
Julia: No bad Tuesdays.
Brandon: No bad Tuesdays.
Eric: Wow.
Brandon: Now, it's part of the show where we recall a specific episode of The Adventures of— from The Book of Virtues.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: And we tell you all about it, one sentence by one sentence.
Amanda: I like the one that is all about Noah's Ark, but instead it was about, like, a child who was too greedy, and so they ate up too many— nope, Jonah and the whale is what I'm thinking of. The child is too greedy and they ate up too many things, and then they upchucked him.
Brandon: Oh, no.
Eric: I like the one where non-denominationally, there were two sets of footsteps on the beach, but I was only there by myself.
Julia: I like the one where Adam Sandler is an overworked businessman who has a magical remote.
Eric: That movie's so sad. Like the last—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —is so sad.
Julia: They really tried to make it seem like a comedy, and it is one of the saddest movies ever made.
Amanda: It makes more sense that it's a parable about being unvirtuous.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: All right, everybody, say farewell.
Brandon: Farewell.
Julia: Later.
Eric: Bye.
Brandon: Bye.
Amanda: Mayor rolls trend ever upward.
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!
[theme]
Eric: Oh, this watermelon's so good.