How did Mr. Box and Mr. Sizzle get paired up? Why does the superhero school have all these fantasy and sci-fi reference? And can we answer some questions from the entire podcast for someone catching up? 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.
Sponsors
- Mage Hand Press, whose Gunslinger class is now available on D&D Beyond. Check out their work at magehandpress.com
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- website: https://jointhepartypod.com
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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 I'm still not sure what's in the box, but I do know what's in this episode, and it's a lot of reflections and good answers to your good questions. Hi, everybody.
Brandon: Hello.
Julia: Hello.
Brandon: It's me, I'm in the box. I'm small.
Julia: Oh. Brandon is Gwyneth Paltrow, actually, if we think about it.
Brandon: Oh, no.
Amanda: Hey, listen, it's pretty true.
Julia: Hmm. As we all know, Brandon, co-founder of Goop.
Brandon: Yes. My— me, famously known for a scam wellness product company—
Julia: Uh-huh.
Brandon: —for women. This is what I do.
Eric: Brandon keeps asking me to give him $500 for a jade egg to put in my yoni.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And I don't really appreciate it.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I figured you didn't know what I was asking. Do you understand the words that I'm trying to say? Do you know what an egg—
Eric: No, I don't.
Brandon: Do you know what an egg is?
Eric: I don't. Stop leaving me voicemails.
Julia: Jade eggs, those are cheaper than eggs nowadays, right?
Amanda: Hey—
Brandon: Got 'em.
Amanda: —Julia.
Brandon: Topical humor.
Amanda: That's topical reference. Yep. This is true. I have a new TV, and whenever I turn it on, it's like a smart TV, but it's about 10 years old. So it's, you know, fairly up there in TV years.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: And whenever I turn it on, the default channel that I cannot change is Letterman TV, where it's just a rerun of David Letterman episodes from throughout his entire career.
Brandon: Legend.
Amanda: Sometimes, there's a monkey. Sometimes, there's very young Amy Poehler.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: Sometimes, there is a comedian I don't know. Sometimes, there is, like, little hats and, like, a tiny dancing pig. It is wild.
Julia: Wow.
Amanda: It makes me feel out of touch with reality every single time I turn my television on.
Julia: It's extremely funny.
Brandon: I love it.
Eric: You were really getting a crash course in the pop culture that you were not around for because you were too busy taking care of your younger siblings.
Brandon: That's true.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: So I can see why the— this is like exposure therapy every time you turn on your television.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: You are exactly right.
Eric: Because, like, I would turn that on and be like, "Oh, that comedian I know and—" it's like, "Oh, animal tricks, a classic." And you're like, "Why is this pig looking at me with the man with the gap tooth?"
Brandon: I like that the trick that the pig is doing is looking at you.
Julia: Staring.
Amanda: From my television.
Eric: He's holding a cane in his mouth.
Julia: Aw.
Amanda: It's very true. We had a lot of great questions about these three episodes of Join the Party. This episode we are covering Iced Out, Fired Up I and II—
Eric: Hmm.
Amanda: —and What's in the Box?
Brandon: What's in the Box?
Julia: What's in the Box?
Amanda: But first, we have some very good general and world-building questions in from the audience. Here is one from Ginger, "I had a head cannon that at least one student has had their feelings for another student exposed by being in a room with Miss Rita where she turns whatever color she does for flustered when their crush walks by."
Brandon: Oh, no.
Julia: I think it's like a rose gold, like a dusty rose. That's the color—
Brandon: Ooh, pretty.
Julia: —she turns when someone's like—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —infatuated.
Brandon: I never thought about that, but that's totally true.
Amanda: Now, Eric, there was also discussion about how Miss Rita herself dealt with the sort of embarrassment of having her teenage feelings just fully known by everybody. Do you have a headcannon for how Miss Rita sort of dealt with her powers when she was in school?
Eric: Well, I think the most important thing is that, unlike maybe the wonderful creations of Lauren Shippen, Miss Rita is not an empath, she's a mood ring which helps—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —make people trust you when you're a guidance counselor.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So it's like, I think she has a different shade of color. She's, like, trying to— what is this color someone would have if they're trying to hold the secret in? Maybe more of a puce, sort of—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: —situation.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: I was thinking, like, a lavender.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. Either the green puce or the purple puce. You know, it could be either one.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Or a mix of both.
Eric: Yeah, probably.
Amanda: Ew.
Eric: Then it is like, "Oh, no, she— they know she has a secret." So to that end about Miss Rita holding her feelings together, I'd go with bad. She was bad at it—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: —as a teenager, though, I would assume that, like, the colors were much more muddied and confusing when she was a teenager herself. And I think, you know, every single person with every single type of power has to refine it. I think she probably went to the school when it was up-and-coming 10, 15, 20 years ago. So you gotta refine your mood ring powers.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Do you think it ever, like, the colors ever, like, swirled in her? You know?
Eric: Probably. I mean, that'd be confusing.
Amanda: Like a twisty soft serve.
Brandon: Yeah. Delicious.
Amanda: Cute.
Eric: I think when that happens, that starts like a 10-comic arc that leads the apocalypse, honestly.
Julia: No.
Eric: Comics, baby. I can't do anything about it.
Amanda: So cool. Soup Dumpling says, "Wow. Me and Rowan are so similar. I'm also short and started drinking coffee at age 9."
Brandon: Oh, no, Soup Dumpling.
Julia: Real quick, when did everyone start drinking coffee regularly?
Brandon: Regularly?
Amanda: Like 25.
Brandon: I mean, I had a— I would get breakfast with my dad once a week, and we go to Starbucks. So I would have coffee once a week in high school—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —ish. But, like, later high school.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: I mean, it has to be 18, 19, I think when I went to college. I started liking it in 7— when I was, like, 1617, but like, I distinctly remember my mom bringing me into Starbucks when I was, you know, preteen or early teen, and like me being overwhelmed by the smell of espresso in there.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And I'm like, "Eh. Sounds gross. Never want to grow up."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Mine was during COVID, so—
Brandon: What?
Amanda: Wow.
Eric: That's so recent.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: And now, it helps your math work better.
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: Why during COVID? Like, were you just like, "I need to uptake caffeine in order for me to do this"?
Amanda: You need to feel something?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: No, it was more like Jake was home during the first couple weeks of COVID, and so was making coffee for me on a regular basis. And then I—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: —was like, "Oh, no, I'm drinking this every day now." And, "Oh, no, now I can't stop."
Brandon: Hmm. Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: I asked my sister this question who, youngest child syndrome, started drinking coffee at age 8.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Age 8.
Brandon: Holy shit.
Amanda: She's my height. That shit was propaganda.
Eric: And Amanda, what— which character from Campaign 2 is Bailey the inspiration from?
Amanda: I'll let folks decide which chaotic youngest sister she inspired.
Eric: Could be any of them.
Julia: Could be anyone. Jake famously started drinking coffee the first day of middle school because he was complaining about having to get up earlier and his mom said, "Here." And they just, like, shoved a cup of coffee into his hands.
Amanda: Incredible.
Julia: Yep, yep.
Brandon: That's incredible.
Eric: He picked it up and the theme song for the Sopranos started—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —playing. "Woke up this morning."
Julia: "Woke up this morning."
Eric: "And I got myself a gun."
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, exactly.
Amanda: Incredible.
Brandon: I would recommend anyone who wants a wonderful high without drugs, start drinking coffee. Start drinking coffee regularly. Drink it for, like, a couple years, stop.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Go through the withdrawals, and then have a cup once in a while, and that shit is like rocket fuel, baby.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda: Incredible. No Hugs Just Bugs says, "I can now perfectly describe my personal style with the term 'wet cat' thanks to you all."
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: "How would each of you describe your own, either yours or your PC's style, as an animal plus an adjective?"
Brandon: Ooh, as animal plus an adjective.
Eric: Hipster grizzly bear.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: Cool.
Brandon: I would be like slacker sloth.
Julia: Ooh.
Eric: Ooh, that's good.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Now, Brandon, as an English teacher, I just need to tell you that you did two words that mean the same thing, one after another.
Brandon: No, slacker is like grungy, you know, like Kurt Cobain style and sloth is like a sloth, you know?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Incredible.
Eric: Sorry, I circled yours and wrote syntax?
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: I can't undo it. I'm sorry. I'm grading really fast. I have 30 students.
Brandon: Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.
Amanda: I'm getting itchy. I think my style— oh, that's a great question. I don't know. Disgruntled egret?
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: That's pretty good.
Julia: Okay.
Amanda: Yeah. Yeah.
Eric: Sorry, Amanda, I circled yours and I did ???
Amanda: That's fair.
Brandon: I was gonna say disgruntled parrot, little parrot guy.
Julia: Little toucan, yeah.
Brandon: Little toucan, thank you. Toucan. Yeah, yeah.
Julia: I think— God, it depends on the season, right? Like summer is more like queer blue jay, and then—
Amanda: Great.
Julia: —winter is more like lazy cat.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Nice.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Target boys' XL Corbin.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I like queer blue jay, because it's like you're gay, but you still rip people's heads off.
Julia: Yeah, and I'm very colorful.
Brandon: You know? So—
Amanda: As we should.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: And very colorful, yeah.
Amanda: As we should this Pride Month.
Brandon: Exactly.
Julia: Summer is much more colorful than winter.
Amanda: There's been an incredible glut of pride beams that's like, "Oh, this, you know, pride fashion accessory," and it's like a brick in a tote bag, a brick in a fanny pack.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: A brick that someone painted with trans colors.
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: It's very good.
Brandon: That's awesome. I love that. Hell yeah. I love that energy.
Amanda: Incredible. No Hugs Just Bugs also wanted to know, "Was Craft born with her powers or are they something that Doc Prometheus developed in her? I was thinking the weather stuff was her, and the detachable body parts was from the doc. But I'm curious if Julia can tell me anything about it."
Julia: Who can say?
Amanda: Oh.
Brandon: So who can say?
Julia: Who can say?
Brandon: Oh, no.
Eric: It's Eric here reading— who knows how to read. The fun thing about the Scion is that there's a weird— especially depending on how you do it. It's like you are definitively the child of the villain, but like, what the fuck does that mean?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like, it's— it is almost, like, just more disturbing to say that than clarification.
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: So it's like who— literally, who knows?
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: I love it. Mysterious.
Julia: I know. I know the answer to the question, but who can say?
Brandon: Julia, tell me quietly so no one else can hear.
Julia: Brandon, all right, here, come to the side. Come to the side.
Brandon: Okay, yeah, yeah. I'm coming over. Yeah.
Julia: I'm not gonna fucking tell you shit, bro.
Brandon: Shit! She got me again!
Amanda: Love it.
Julia: Got him.
Amanda: Let's get Iced Out, Fired Up. I loved this duo of episodes, and Ginger had an excellent question. They say, "I'm obsessed with the two shop teachers. I want to know everything about them. Why they became/were forced to become teachers, et cetera? Eric, I know they have backstories. Please, please, I want to know everything about everything. This world just keeps getting more full of life every episode and I'm pondering the details."
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Thanks.
Julia: Thanks.
Eric: Iced Out, Fired Up was kind of, like, the first traditional game of Masks that we played. I said it kind of at the end, I'm like, "This is what Masks is." You know, if we were not recording it, we would have played that whole session straight through, and that would have been three hours, bang.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Right? It's like, I think we finally move past the, you know, exposition stuff. I also really am envisioning this like it's Teen Titans, honestly, like running it like it's an American animated show that used to exist and have 30 episodes, or, like, Adventure Time have 50 10-minute episodes. You know what I mean?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So this felt like, "Oh, I need to stay—" I gave myself some constraints. I'm like, "This needs to stay at the school." We left the school for the villain arc. The first one was very introductory. We need to stay at the school. It has to be about school. It has to be about class. We literal— not, like, socioeconomically, that's me, like one of the classes. And all of you need to, like, meet some new people and have that in there, so I kind of put those constraints on me. So introducing Mr. Box and Mr. Sizzle together, it's like, yeah, these would be your teachers, but it's weird. There's a big thing about, like, making the school as strange as possible. And comics are also all-genre. I think that another question in the Discord was like, "Why is there so much sci-fi? Why is there so much fantasy?" I'm like, "It's comics, baby." Like, that's everything. I need—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —to put everything in there, even though it's just superpowers. So, you know, coming up with it, it's like, I don't know. Like it just is, and, like, I'm figuring it out. I'm really trying to also put a lot of this stuff in the actual episodes themselves, because, you know, comics is full— are full of exposition in between the "Wow, boom, Biff Pow." So, like, I— let's figure it out. Also, I'm not supposed to write any of this stuff down. Masks won't let me. It has a gun up to my head, as established. It says,
Stop writing world-building down. You're not supposed to know."
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Brandon and I got into a bit of world-building in this arc as well, introducing the Great Fissuring.
Julia: My God.
Amanda: But we'll get to that in Episode Nine.
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: Ginger also said, "Relating so hard to Julia, going, 'Can I be doing this extra credit but I do it cool?' Because that's exactly how I reason with my GM anytime I try to sneak something past them."
Julia: Here's the thing is— Craft is not going to do extra math homework in order to get extra credit. That's just not fun. And at this point, like school— even if she's trying really hard, school still has to be, like, somewhat entertaining to her. You know what I mean?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: So, like, memorizing a very silly poem from the works of Lewis Carroll is way more interesting to her than, how do I apply trigonometry to calculus? That's not a thing, but I haven't done math in so, so long.
Amanda: Julia, you can always write your calculus equations in the shape of a triangle anytime you want.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: Like, that's just up to you.
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: There you go.
Amanda: There you go.
Brandon: New math. Is that what they mean by new math?
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: I don't even know what that is, Brandon. I've never even heard of new math.
Brandon: Well, see, Julia, the kids these days are learning new math because—
Julia: Math is math.
Eric: Stop saying new math.
Brandon: No.
Eric: Terrence Howard is going to show up and tell us that two plus two equals five if we keep talking.
Brandon: I don't—
Amanda: All right, then—
Brandon: What?
Amanda: —I better get to the question from--
Eric: Brandon, it's also— new math is also conspiracy. Let— sorry, we have to hold the podcast while Brandon Googles for five minutes. Hold on.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: It's conspiracy?
Eric: Yeah. it's like the— it's like— there's also— I know what you're talking about, new math is like parents complaining that they don't know how to teach their children math anymore, and that's new math. But also—
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: —there's, like, real conspiracy shit tied together. It's like the Atlanteans have energy down there, and they're also using new math for us to see it with our third eye.
Brandon: Oh, tight.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: That's fucking cool.
Amanda: Wow. I wonder why—
Julia: Fun.
Amanda: —our fictional worlds are getting more and more sort of, like, wild and ridiculous to channel the fact that that's also the actual world we're living in.
Eric: Embodying, like, the idea of what a bonfire is to humans is actually a lot easier to figure out of, like, QAnon.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. Sure. Here is a question from Kazy, 3 Kobolds in a Trenchcoat, "So, are all the weird/not totally human teachers incompetent, or just these two? If you're ever told that a fairly certain death is a, quote-unquote, 'learning experience' maybe just don't put on the power dampener and take the L on the class. On the other hand, I love how it ended up being handled." Brandon and Julia, did it occur to either of you to not participate in this exercise?
Julia: No.
Brandon: I mean, as a player, yes. As a kid, are you kidding me? If I was in a class with an adult being like, "You're gonna fail if you don't do this." I'm gonna do it, like—
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Especially now that Craft is actually trying at school, taking the L and, you know, risking Vesper not liking her anymore, or like vice-versa. You know what I mean? It just didn't seem like a option for her at all.
Eric: Kazy, I'm gonna tell you about your current teachers and leaders of institutions. They're incompetent, too.
Brandon: What?
Julia: Yeah. They don't have to be a refrigerator to be incompetent.
Eric: And was— and is Mr. Box incompetent?
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Is maybe out of superhero schools, putting yourself in certain danger, and getting yourself out of it in a relatively controlled environment? Maybe that's what the whole school is for. I don't know.
Brandon: I mean, incompetent is the wrong word, but he did get himself beat to shit into a small mini fridge.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah, but you did that. And then you had to write—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —an essay to Wordsmith about what— about why you needed to do that.
Brandon: Right. But if I were a teacher and I was creating a lesson plan, I wouldn't want to create one in which a student would want to crush me into a small box.
Eric: Well, I don't know if getting crushed is on the lesson plan, Brandon. I don't know if that's praxis. So—
Amanda: Getting crushed is certainly on Vesper's lesson plan for Craft. CeCe says, quote—
Brandon: Nice.
Amanda: —"Vesper is the mean lesbian representation that we all need." Eric, did this come from your lesson on lesbian words or is this just kind of, like, you being a great ally to the queer community?
Eric: Oh, sorry, Julia came up with Vesper. I don't know what you're talking about. I just said—
Julia: This is true.
Eric: —there was someone who I haven't seen in a while in class, and then Julia came up with that.
Julia: Yeah. And then you made her a mean lesbian.
Eric: I know what you want. I know what you want. You also were the one who came up with Vesper. That's from—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —the Patreon episode we made, and I'm like—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —this is also Julia's.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Sorry, this 17-year-old young woman—
Julia: Spy.
Eric: —is now— has James Bond shit, I don't know what to tell you.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: I'm not the Broccoli family. I'm fine with it.
Julia: Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
Brandon: patreon.com/jointhepartypod, where you can join—
Julia: Hell yeah.
Brandon: —and hear that episode.
Amanda: You sure can. Good stuff. One of my favorite things I've recorded in a long, long time. Okay. Here's a question from BlueSpectr for Julia. "How does Craft reattach body parts? Does she use a staple gun or like hemp cord? Fancy sparkly embroidery floss for special occasions? Does it self-adhere? Can she reattach them herself or does she have a symbiotic relationship with a fiber art nerd on campus to whom she provides, quote, 'special goods' in exchange?"
Julia: So my thought process, because the power that I chose for Craft was regeneration, was in my mind, everything is like attached, quote-unquote, "by stitches" in a very Frankenstein style way. But when reattaching stuff, Craft just kind of smooshes it together, and then, in a very sci-fi symbiote, amoeboid sort of way, like the skin kind of stitches itself back together like little tentacles.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: So cool.
Julia: Yeah. So that was what I'm picturing when Craft rips off her head or rips off an arm and then reattaches it, is you just see the, like, tears of the skin go [wiggly noise]
Brandon: That's what I was picturing, too.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: But on the other hand, it's funny to have a staple gun on your person at all times, so—
Julia: It'd be very funny. It would be very funny.
Amanda: Yeah. You know, Brandon, that's a great point. I carry a multitool. I carry a measuring tape, but I've never considered carrying a staple gun with me, but—
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Do you— is your everyday carry include a measuring tape, Amanda?
Amanda: It sure does, because it's rose gold and very soft and fits in my little purse.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: Hell yeah, dude, that's awesome.
Julia: I love that.
Amanda: That's good. Here's a question from GBBBO, "When Craft rips her head off, does her body have a separate consciousness that knows that the head needs to be put back on?"
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: "Could it choose not to do that and live on as a separate being from the head?"
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: Now, it does hard move.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric: Thank you very much.
Julia: I don't like that. In my mind—
Amanda: Oh, no.
Julia: —the answer is no, but Eric gets to decide because he's the GM. So in my mind, Craft fully died in that moment, but then because the body still has some energy and life back to it, stitched itself back together once—
Eric: Sure.
Julia: —the head kind of went back down. But—
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I think we have chicken without a head rules. I think—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —you know, you got a few minutes, at least.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: I also just like the idea that you have to, like, perfectly aim how you take your head off, so that when you drop it, it just lands back on.
Julia: I— again, I think there is some flexibility because of the amoeboid stitching situation that happens there—
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: —but yeah.
Eric: Hey, Brandon, we saw Amoeboid Stitching at NYU. They played at Welcome Week, correct?
Brandon: They were so good.
Eric: They were so good.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: They opened for Dr. Dog.
Julia: Yeah, that's why you guys don't have a house. Stand by that forever.
Eric: I mean, you know, the funny thing about, you know, Masks is that even if I had, like, your head and your body were separated for gameplay reasons, it's like you can just do a move and get it back, you know? Like—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And then you just figure it out. Like it doesn't ma— it is so much more narrative and then we just got to roll with the punches. Like, the moves are so immovable that you can do whatever you want with it. It's— everything else is just such like— it's just fun and interesting. So even if that happened, I don't— it's not like y'all would ruin your time. And, like, to that point, we're already seeing this with Connor with his new powers. Like, Connor has new powers, but that— does that change anything about any of the moves? No. Connor can just, like, do a new thing, and we can look at it in a different perspective, instead of just the stuff he was doing before.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.
Amanda: GBBBO also says, "Now, I'm expecting Connor to get into a life-threatening situation due to the lack of pants. I hope Brandon never learns that jokes have consequences." Laughing, crying emoji.
Brandon: What do you mean jokes have consequences? I don't know what you're talking about.
Julia: Yeah. I don't think so.
Eric: After seven years, he's not gonna get it now.
Julia: No. And I love that for him.
Amanda: It's incredible for content.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Brandon literally played a guy who had giant bombs that did double damage to ships. I don't know what you're talking about.
Julia: And we lived on a ship.
Amanda: In a pirate campaign, we sure did.
Julia: Yurr.
Amanda: No notes.
Brandon: I see no problem with this.
Amanda: Here are some questions from resident medical expert, the Question Surgeon, Michelle Spurgeon, "What parts of Connor are invisible, all skin, fat, muscle and vascular? Is it patchy? We see his organs, but not his skeleton, so I'm curious."
Brandon: Well, you do see some of the skeleton. I think it changes and shifts over time, too. But it's not like all one category. Like, it's not all skin, all fat, all muscle. It's like this patch of skin, this patch of fat, that patch of muscle.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: So, yes, it is patchy and, yeah, I think it changes over time. You do see parts of a skeleton. You see parts of like— you know, maybe the left side of his face that day is just, like, completely normal. But, yeah, I think— whatever you're envisioning is what it looks like, so—
Julia: Yeah. I really like the idea of Connor's, like, whole skin organ skeleton situation, almost shifting at the same speed as a lava lamp.
Amanda: Ooh.
Brandon: That's fun. I like that. Yeah, yeah.
Julia: That is kind of fun, right?
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Very slow, I love that.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Like, slow, but, like, noticeable. You know what I mean?
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. Because, like, I can picture it being slow enough where, like, overnight it shifts and you don't—
Brandon: Right.
Julia: necessarily notice it until the next day. But I also really like that it is perceptively changing as time goes on.
Brandon: Hmm. I like that.
Amanda: Hell yeah. Julia, would you care to— this is just a question from me, would you care to share any light— shed any light on what a sloppy egg sandwich could be with mean lesbian Vesper?
Brandon: Oh, God. Please don't.
Eric (singing): I'm moving out.
Julia: I'm picturing a lot of hot sauce and very runny eggs, and on like a— on too soft of a roll person.
Eric: Ooh.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: Is that also euphemism?
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Who can say?
Eric: Can I offer a different perspective?
Julia: What were you picturing?
Eric: I wonder if there's somewhere in between a New York City, bacon, egg and cheese and like a Japanese egg salad sandwich.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: If you don't know, you know, you can just go to the 7/11 in Tokyo and then that's— the egg salad they make— it's with Kewpie mayo, which has more egg yolks in it than usual. Very good mayo. But then they also put, like, a runny ramen egg in the middle.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: And, like, I wonder if, like, there is— you know, there's fried egg, but then also a runny egg on it at the same time.
Julia: Gross.
Eric: And then also sausage and cheese.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: But, like, imagine you're— Julia, imagine you're 16, and you eat that, and then you, like, go to gym class.
Brandon: And then you throw it up everywhere.
Julia: I thought you were gonna say, "Imagine you're 16, you eat that, and then you sleep for 24 hours." And I said, "Yeah, relatable."
Eric: If it's Sunday, you could do that, too.
Julia: There you go.
Amanda: Incredible.
Eric: Because this felt like our first self-contained arc, how did all of my players feel about kind of playing this whole thing out? Like, how did the Masks of it all kind of grok with how we recorded this podcast for all three of you?
Julia: I liked it, particularly because I think you gave us, like, an opportunity. You were like, "Here's what the goal of the thing is, do you want to do that?" And we're like, "I mean, some of us do and some of us don't." And Connor ended up doing an entirely different thing than what Rowan and Craft ended up doing. And I think that's, like, kind of fun and interesting, because I like the amount of, like, choice we get, where it's not like, "There are three paths that your character can go down. Which one do you want to go down?" And you were like, "I don't know, do some student things. Go ahead. Take a class."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah, the prep for this stuff is so much less. Like, I'm not— I'm really not supposed to write down all that much. Like—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —I ended up only writing down kind of like— some of the— a lot of the stuff of like, "Hey, I have some rules here, but the most— the thing I wrote down— the longest sentence I wrote down was Mr. Sizzle's full name." So—
Julia: Sick, sick.
Amanda: I really, really love that this is what teenage dumb feels like. It feels like, you know, your life and your advancements, you know, and your problems and the things that you're most afraid of happen in gym class. They happen in shop class. Like, you are doing the teenage things, and that is, like, the playing out of your life. And so for me, it's really exciting that we get to see, you know, important moments with Powers, with students between the group, seeing us fight, you know, together and support each other in something as kind of mundane as, like an outside class for that day. So incredibly cool. Masks is a great game, and I really enjoyed this challenge.
Julia: Hell yeah, dog. I was also curious to— not— did Brandon do something wrong? Is that why Connor's thing failed or was it gonna be whoever went second was gonna have a problem with their grappling gun?
Eric: Now, Brandon, do you feel personally attacked that I made your grappling hook fail?
Brandon: No. I feel like I would have probably failed the roll if there were a roll anyway.
Julia: Fair enough.
Brandon: So—
Amanda: Aw.
Brandon: —I feel like that's fine.
Julia: Brandon, you've been rolling better since we switched back to a 2D6 style campaign, so—
Brandon: See, here's the problem with the stats on the other side of things, is I don't know that's actually true. I think if we count—
Julia: It feels like it is.
Brandon: It feels like maybe, but I feel like if we counted it, it would probably be either 50/50 or still bad.
Julia: I don't know about that, man. I don't know.
Eric: I don't know about that.
Amanda: And we all learned from Stephen Colbert that truth is what you feel in the gut.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Hmm.
Amanda: So I'm gonna go ahead and say mathematically, Brandon, it's happening.
Brandon: I'm gonna say new mathematically, I roll all twelves.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric: Say it one more time, Terrence Howard is gonna come out of my mirror, I swear to God.
Brandon: I hope he does.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, no— there was no— I— Connor just failed. There are reasons—
Julia: Okay.
Eric: —of why that happened, but also it's like whatever, you know? Because there's no damage in this game, what would happen? You know? Like, I'm not— just because I'm putting you in a new situation and, like, moving the action forward, any sort of thing could have happened. I think of— what I said was like, "Connor's falling. What does everyone do?"
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And whoever wanted to do something could have done something. I think what Rowan tried to use contortion to get out of this situation, but like, you know, if Brandon felt compelled to have been the one to do something, he would have been harder, because he had to rip off— he would have had to either not have his dampened powers or rip the collar off. But, like, it's not I'm like, "Oh, yeah, hey, your grappling hook failed and take 4d10 damage." Like, that would have been a dick move, but that's not how the game works, so it's like whatever.
Brandon: Right, right, right.
Julia: You know what I just kind of realized?
Brandon: What?
Amanda: Tell me.
Julia: I mean, there's no mechanic where you can die in Masks, right?
Brandon: I think you could just die, you know? But no, there's no mechanic.
Julia: I mean, like, yeah, but like, for story purposes, sure. But, like, there's nothing where, like, Eric says, "And then your character died because your hit points level, and no one got to you in time," or whatever, right?
Brandon: Right.
Eric: Well, what's worse, Julia, insulting all of your friends and them remembering and bringing that into the next session? Or remembering how you had to bail because you took too much of a hit to the face, or you got scared or dying? Which is worse?
Julia: True, true.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: I was just— it just struck me for a moment where I'm like,
"Sometimes the stakes in D&D are high because I'm like, 'Well, I don't want to see this character die and I'll be really sad if they do.'" But in this case, it is so much more about the emotional stakes of, like—
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: —being a teenager—
Brandon: Right.
Julia: —and trying to do right in the world.
Eric: You can add a harm counter. It's in the back of one of these books. I've seen it, but it's like, I don't know, for— especially because we're doing something that is so teenage centric.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like, I don't really want to use it.
Amanda: Fair.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: But it's also optional. It's like— it's only for people who want to add a— like, you know, Monster of the Week, how we had the harm tracker.
Julia: Right.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Julia: That's what I was thinking.
Eric: You can add that on, but it's also like— you know, that was— that's— like, Monster of the Week needs that because it's like you are putting yourself in danger all of the time. You need to track your harm. But instead, it's like you are super-powered. No one dies unless you see the body in comics, so being emotional—
Julia: And even then—
Eric: —is way worse.
Amanda: 100%.
Julia: All right, cool. I was just very curious about that, because I was thinking D&D, and then my thought process was, "But we did have like, you know, hit point/harm in Monster of the Week, so it's not exclusive to, like, Powered by the Apocalypse games don't allow your character to die because you definitely can. But—
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: —yeah, I was just curious.
Eric: No, it's— I mean, it's interesting. I thought a lot about it. So, yeah, Brandon, I actually love you the most because I gave you an— the interesting thing to do.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: Aw.
Eric: Don't tell Amanda and Julia, but I like Brandon the most.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: I'm excited for when Eric comes into— robs my house and then kicks— hit me as a baseball bat and it's like, "This is because I love you most."
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, that's what— I mean, that's how we started the Seattle show, right?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I got out of SeaTac, and then I found the nearest Dick's Sporting Goods and got a baseball bat.
Julia: Perfect.
Eric: Can you give me the Brandio Slugger, please?
Amanda: All right, folks. Before we get into Episode Nine with What's in the Box? I have to go check on what's in the ice box.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: Because I made alcoholic popsicles.
Julia: Whoa.
Eric: Yay.
Brandon: Yay.
Amanda: Be right back.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, everybody, it's Amanda. This midroll is brought to you by coconut water fresh off the tree. A reminder to all those listening that you can sign up to follow Join the Party for free on Patreon. If you are spending less time on social media these days, so am I, our Patreon is a great way to stay up-to-date with all new episodes, announcements, and more. Of course, we extra special appreciate our paying patrons who support, by the way, means that we'll be posting another episode of the One Shot Derby very soon. The video and audio will both be available for all paying patrons, along with incredible benefits, like our wholesome and extremely active Discord, Happy Birthday, Kolsch, ad-free episodes, the biweekly Party Planning podcast, and more. Join the Patreon Party now at patreon.com/jointhepartypod. See what I did there? If you like Join the Party, you're going to love the other shows that are part of a Multitude Podcast collective. Wow If True is your one-stop internet culture shop, explaining how, what's happening online shapes the real world. And they are the internet experts and real life besties to unravel it. You're going to love these folks. It's tech culture journalist Amanda Silberling and science fiction author and attorney Isabel J. Kim, Esq. More importantly, they are the only podcast, I guarantee you, that will mention Neopets and horizontal mergers in the same episode. Literally, can you think of a podcast that I could love more? No, I can't. They are asking and answering all kinds of burning questions about the internet in a way that you are going to enjoy. They really talk about both the impact of these things and also have that besties talking about a thing that they love dynamic that I hope Multitude has come to be defined by. So go check out Wow If True wherever on the internet you find your podcasts. New episodes every other Wednesday. We are sponsored, once more, by our friends at Mage Hand Press, the gunslinger class from Valda's Spire of Secrets, popularized, I hope, by notable himbo Troy Riptide is now on D&D Beyond. You can play a gunslinger now, if you like scoring powerful critical hits and having an entire arsenal of different kinds of guns at your disposal. The gunslinger class comes with six new subclasses. If you remember, Troy was the trick shot. There is a slew of gunslinging spells and new feats so you can shoot first and ask questions later. Or maybe just like, you know, brood while looking really hot and, like, staring off over the distance, as Troy like to do. Plus, with its brand-new lineup of firearms, you can turn any session you want into a very fun shootout. So head to magehandpress.com to check out the gunslinger and much, much more. Remember, gunslinger class is now from Valda's Spire of Secrets on D&D Beyond. Thank you, Mage Hand Press, for supporting the show. And now, let's get back to the Afterparty.
[theme]
Brandon: I love getting drunk off solid food.
Julia: Me, too.
Eric: I ate the—
Amanda: Yum, yum.
Eric: —alcoholic popsicles that were in the icebox, I'm so sorry. They were stronger than I thought it was, and I vomited on your floor.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: All right, folks. We are back and we are here to talk about What's in the box? But not yet, because we don't yet know what's in the box. Here's a question from Tess. "I need everyone to know that I'm fully picturing the Burlbs as Beetroot from Darkwing Duck."
Julia: Okay.
Amanda: Does this reference resonate?
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: I know Darkwing Duck, but I don't remember Beetroot.
Julia: I loved Darkwing Duck as a kid, so—
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: —I remember Beetroot.
Eric: Plant— yeah, plant guy with, like the real craggy-looking face. There was another one with in Showdown. There was a—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: —potato that had the same sort of similar face. That is another one. So I liked all that stuff. Evil Potato.
Brandon: That's great. I love it.
Julia: I thought you were gonna say The Beets from Doug.
Eric: From Doug, yeah, yeah. I mean, that would be— when we had— when Doug has a nightmare about the beets, that's also what they look like. Any plants—
Julia: I like that.
Eric: —plants that is scary and con— and is an alien, that's what we're talking about.
Julia: Cool.
Brandon: Love it.
Amanda: Y'all ever seen like a weird sweet potato? Like it grew too big, and you take it out, and it looks kind of like it has sentience? That's what I'm picturing.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah. Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. It's an exact shape of an infant.
Eric: If we were making a sizzle reel to introduce all of our characters, I think that quote from Amanda would be in there.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Hell yeah. Here's a question from Othersian, "The aggressive support within this group is hilarious. Get you BFFs like Connor and Rowan that would punch you in the face then slap you with the force of gravity the second you consider doubting yourself, respectfully, of course."
Brandon: You gotta.
Amanda: I— that's a very sweet comment. The question part that I would love to ask Brandon and Julia is, what do you think was, like, the first moment in this friendship group where we really showed up for each other?
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: You know?
Julia: Like, canonically, like in our past or—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: —in the episodes we've recorded thus far?
Amanda: Canonically in our past.
Julia: Oh, man.
Brandon: I think the one where Connor showed up for Craft is, like, there was a huge, I don't know, let's say chemistry test or geometry test or something. And Connor saw Craft, like, freaking out about it because they didn't have time— she didn't have time to study or something. And Connor was like—
Brandon (as Connor Lyons): Hey, hey, just, like, look at my paper. It's fine.
Brandon: Yeah, like let her cheat.
Eric: No way Connor would let someone cheat and put himself in that situation. No way.
Amanda: A teammate? You help a teammate.
Eric: That's Brandon and Craft. That's how— they do that together.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: What are you talking about? Yes, he would. He do— he's not like an academic ladder climber.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Like, he's been eight the whole time.
Julia: Yeah. He's a good boy, but that doesn't mean he's a rule follower necessarily.
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: Sorry, I'm writing a bunch of fanfic about how you, the person who controls the character, is wrong.
Julia: Hmm. Fair enough. Fair enough.
Brandon: Okay.
Julia: I can definitely see a moment where Craft and Rowan were, like, very aggressively, like, supportive of Connor when someone made, like, a really weird comment about Connor's body, and they were—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: —all like, "Well, you're not much better either with your skin and your face, and regular—"
Amanda (as Rowan Miriam Rosen): Yeah.
Julia: "—hair and stuff."
Amanda (as Rowan): It's weird that we can't see your lungs inflating, huh?
Julia: Yeah. How would we know you're breathing? Maybe you should stop.
Amanda (as Rowan): Do you even have a heart in there? Prove it?
Eric: These are all things you all definitely did freshman year. Like—
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Eric: —I feel the 14-year-old energy radiating off of all those.
Brandon: 100%.
Julia: Uh-huh.
Amanda: Incredible.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: TJ wants to know, "Did you get Morgan Freeman to do a cameo for the next episode?"
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Now—
Brandon: No spoilees.
Amanda: —typically, all approve expenses for Join the Party, so if someone did order a cameo, I think this would be worth having a surprise over.
Julia: Hmm. Hmm. Who can say?
Amanda: I don't know. Who can say?
Brandon: He was free, actually, because he's a huge fan of JTP, so—
Julia: Oh, wow.
Brandon: Yeah,
Amanda: That's an excellent rumor to start about Morgan Freeman.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Morgan Freeman loves Join the Party. Spread the word.
Amanda: Spread the word. TJ also asked how to spell Jeets, which, hey, that's a great reason to go to jointhepartypod.com or click in the link of every single episode of Campaign Four and see the beautiful NPC list that keeps getting updated 10AM Eastern every single episode day.
Julia: Yurr.
Brandon: What up? Thanks, Ghoulia.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Wee.
Eric: In my notes, I spelled Jeeeets, J, 5 E's, T-S.
Eric (as Jeets): And I'm Jeets.
Amanda: Incredible.
Julia: Yeah, it does have a little ring of five E's in there.
Amanda: Now, Eric, what is the proper cadence of gargoyles with ridiculous voices in actual play shows?
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Amanda: Do you think like every three campaigns is about right? Is that we're going for?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I know I'm testifying in front of the government committee. I refuse-- I do not recall.
Julia: I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth. No self-incrimination.
Amanda: No Hugs Just Bugs asks, "What other awards are given out at the Hallwaysies?"
Julia: Oh. I think, like, fastest walk without running.
Brandon: Oh, that's good.
Julia: Because no running in the hallways.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: Best, best door hold.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Best door hold open.
Julia: Or most door holds in a semester.
Brandon: Or most, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah. That's good.
Amanda: Very nice.
Julia: The politeness award.
Amanda: Yeah, but the person like, you know, is essentially flunking school because they are spending all of their time not in class, but at the door.
Julia: Just constantly holding the door.
Amanda: Holding it open.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Most polished marble—
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: —or— you know? What else?
Amanda: How about longest slide?
Brandon: Ooh.
Julia: Oh. I—
Amanda: You know?
Julia: —don't think that would be correct, because that would be then promoting dangerous activities, Amanda.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Is that the Underground Hallwaysies?
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: Is that the Students Choice Award Hallwaysies? And then the winner gets slimed.
Julia: Ooh.
Brandon: I like that.
Eric: Most decorated locker, and then there's school spirit edition, and then there's a holiday edition.
Amanda: Very cute.
Julia: Oh, fun.
Brandon: Ooh, that's fun.
Eric: It's kind of like Best Supporting Actor limited series or for TV series.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. Comedy or Musical.
Julia: Comedy or Musical.
Amanda: Violet says, "What is Connor's go-to comfort, sick food/drink? And does his aunt ship him care packages or leave food containers for him at his dorm door?"
Brandon: Oh, good question.
Julia: I bet she sends you care packages. I bet you get one, like once a month.
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Amanda: Aw.
Brandon: I definitely get once— one once a month. Do we have, like, a DoorDash or something like this in this universe?
Julia: I'm sure there's some sort of—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: —delivery service. Sure.
Amanda: It's run by the— by that same racket of students with super speed, who you have—
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: —to keep on retainer to get to class.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: You know, with, like, your one emergency use per semester.
Eric: Sure.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Uber Eats still exists, though.
Julia: Okay.
Brandon: I think— first, I think his aunt would definitely like DoorDash him food, but I think his— probably his favorite go-to it's probably like udon noodles or something, you know?
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Brandon: Something like a soup.
Julia: Like a saucy noodle or like a soup soup?
Brandon: Like a soup with—
Amanda: Ah.
Brandon: —udon noodles, yeah.
Julia: I love a saucy noodle man.
Brandon: Well, yeah, I mean, I do too, but when I'm sick, I gotta have that broth, you know?
Julia: Yes, I gotcha, I gotcha.
Eric: Oh, saucy noodle. That's Christina Carpenter's new album that's coming out.
Brandon: Gross.
Eric: Sorry, was man's best friend not horny enough for you, Brandon? The same, it's the same.
Julia: It's sloppy egg sandwich, actually. Sorry.
Amanda: I do offer saucy noodle to somebody as their style descriptor. And if that's you—
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: —congratulations, you won.
Julia: I am a saucy little noodle. That's more of my fall collection, though, than—
Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Julia: —my summer or winter.
Amanda: Ginger wants to know, Eric, this is what you're referring to earlier, "Is the world just very magical and sci-fi now? The existence of wizard tower and plant aliens seems to say yay, but did these people exist the entire time? Were they just avoiding earth 'til people got noticeable powers around 2020X?"
Eric: Oh, that's a good question.
Brandon: Well, you don't have to have watch— listen to Campaign Two to understand this, so—
Eric: It's mostly ley lines, honestly.
Julia: Right.
Eric: Ley lines.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: If you say ley lines too many times—
Julia: The Burlbs appear.
Eric: Terrence Howard will still show up.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: He'll tell you about how he wasn't— he was underpaid in Iron Man 2, and that's why he didn't do it anymore. Yeah. I mean, it's— yeah, it's a comic book trope that you can throw anything in any comic, and you just got to keep it weird. And so that's a main guiding principle that Masks really emphasizes, especially for the school. So just trying to keep it weird with bunch of stuff. But, like, alien showing up for a random reason is so comics, I couldn't help it.
Julia: I, also, in my mind— and I know we don't necessarily need people to listen to Season Two in order to understand Campaign Four. But in my mind, like, think of like, the original kind of Batman stuff, right? Or Superman stuff, and how everything was, like, fairly low stakes, fairly more set in reality. And then it's only when you start getting into, like, the '60s and '70s and—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —'80s where, like, things really start popping off. And, like, you get the Shi'ar Empire in X-Men and, like, things get space, you know?
Eric: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah, totally.
Julia: So I think that we are like the, oh, you know, 10 to 20 years in comic world have passed at this point, so things are a little bit more crazy.
Brandon: Yeah, absolutely.
Eric: I think it was kind of fucked up that Brandon put the Hays Code on our podcast for so long.
Julia: Hmm. Good point.
Brandon: No boobies, no cursies.
Eric: Yeah, that's—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —why there was the fuck cut, because Brandon—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —put the Hays Code—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —on the podcast.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Ginger also wants to know something that I, too, have wondered, "Does the school have any plans to make the ravine less lethal?"
Brandon: How do you— okay. How do you make a ravine less lethal?
Julia: Build a bridge.
Brandon: You know?
Amanda: Well—
Brandon: Build a bridge.
Amanda: —you could—
Brandon: Fill it with foam?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Fill it with gel?
Amanda: You could do that. You could install a sort of, like, permanent air cushion—
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: —at the top, so that what's— is in the ravine, stays in the ravine. And what's on top of it, you can like— if you're stumbling, you could just kind of fall in, like, a nice little cloud.
Brandon: Hmm. I do love that idea of like— or an idea of just, like, a permanent, incredible updraft. So if you did fall—
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: —into it, it just, like, pops you back out.
Amanda: Exactly.
Eric: Oh, like, it's Mario Kart 8?
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Amanda: Wee.
Eric: The funniest thing about that episode was just the fact that teenagers are staring at this adult and are talking about his most traumatic moment to his face over and over again.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I think I said in the episode, I'm like, "There is a 12-episode comic about this, Wordsmith on his own, and you teens are just saying it right at him."
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I mean, he didn't— the teams didn't know. What adult teacher shares anything with their students?
Julia: Especially their trauma.
Amanda: For real.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Or even, like— even you knew and you're like, "Hey, can we talk about your trauma?"
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: "It's the one thing I know about you, other than you being my principal, so I'm gonna talk about it."
Amanda: Teens, man. Anyone who teaches or works with teens out there, shoutout.
Brandon: Teens.
Amanda: Ginger also wants to know, "Brandon! Connor got new powers, and they are very, very cool. Were there any ones that you considered that didn't make the cut? And if so, why did you consider them?"
Brandon: Yeah. There definitely were some that I considered. And to be honest, I don't remember where I took those notes, so I can't pull them back up. But, obviously, I first looked at my abilities on my sheet, which there was— I haven't taken so far. There's one that I deleted to put in power negation, so I don't remember that one— where that one was.
Julia: Fair enough.
Brandon: But there's impenetrable armor and technopathy.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: Which, you know, who knows in the future if I'll take any of those? I'm not super into the technopathy one.
Julia: What, you don't want—
Brandon: But—
Julia: —to be like Cyberpunk's new best friend?
Brandon: No, I don't want to be a big old, weird pervert in the—
Julia: Fair enough.
Brandon: —dorm.
Eric: Once again, a character Julia created. I didn't create, Julia created it.
Amanda: Julia says, "What do you want? What are you gonna do?"
Julia: What can I do? Sometimes you have a good idea.
Amanda: It's Queer Blue Jay Simmons.
Brandon: But, yeah, the thing about that cool level-up was that I could take it from any playbook. So I definitely— I looked through every playbook and looked at all the abilities, and just found the one that sort of rocked best with Connor and sort of the transforms. And I found power negation. I was like, "Well, that's exactly what I've been trying to do this whole time with my words."
Amanda: Exactly.
Brandon: So why not make it real?
Julia: Wow.
Eric: That's so interesting that you were able to pick any superpower, because, like, when you do character creation, they're like, "Hey, these superpowers were suggesting— fit really well with all of your— with your playbook. Like, we tried really hard to give you six possible powers that, you know, I know would be— would make, like, the Nova or make the disturb or the deranged. I forget what some of these are.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And— but it's like once you get to the level-up, they're like, "Fuck it." You would like, for a little while, go off, do whatever. So the fact that you're able to, like, grab anything is awesome.
Brandon: I think it's for the trans— I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I think it was for the transform specifically, because the transform can transform. The idea is that you mutate further, that's what it says.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: So you could, like, mutate into something new.
Julia: Yeah. Like, I don't get that option as one of my advances.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: I— but, like, in— for the other advancements, where it's just like, "Take a play— take a move from any other playbook."
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: They really just, like— it's real— they really hold your hand during character creation, but then let you go off once you've played the character for long enough to get that advancement. I mean, how many— I guess depending. It's like— it takes two to four sessions to get enough failures to level up. So it's like, "Go off king, you're fine."
Julia: Yeah. Like, I've got my—
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: —list of abilities that are specific to the Scion if anyone wants to hear.
Brandon: Give me some. Give me the top—
Amanda: Let's go.
Brandon: —the highlights.
Julia: Impressive martial prowess.
Eric: Of course.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Julia: Magical aptitude.
Amanda: Oh.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Cosmic energy.
Amanda: Wow.
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: Machine Control.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Seismic waves. A powerful weapon or gadget.
Eric: So sick.
Julia: And then mastery—
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: —of a single skill set.
Brandon: I love a powerful weapon or gadget. That's fun.
Julia: That would be cool.
Amanda: That is very cool.
Eric: That is so Eric NPC-coded. Like, I love leading with the item and then making—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —the character around it. That's cool as well.
Amanda: And then finally, for Episode Nine, Lyle is doing the good, good work, making sure that Eric stays fed. "Hey, what the fuck? Mystery Box plus another trauma tower, plus more gargoyles?"
Eric: Thank you, Lyle. Lyle, keep— please keep sending this. Please, please keep doing it.
Julia: He must be fed.
Amanda: He needs it.
Eric: I need water. Water me, please.
Brandon: I do have a question. Speaking about the tower, Eric, because I was editing or went back or something, and you mentioned the wizard tower in a previous episode. Well, in what I thought was a joke, did it— was it not a joke in that episode or was it a joke that then you made real in the new one? Or was it just a coincidence?
Eric: You know, man.
Julia: You know, who can say how the brain works?
Eric: We're all living in here. I'm gonna say it was a joke and then turned into a real thing. Again, it's like Masks does not tell a GM what to do, but gives them, like, 50 different directives and principles to follow. So it's like, some of the ones stick, and one is like— make sure it's weird, make sure it's comics. And so the fact that I wanted to insert the wizard tower into the campus is, like, the same thing. Like, when Wordsmith says Praxis out loud, it's like— that's just— it is what it is. You know what I mean?
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Like, it's all part of the same brainwave.
Brandon: Gotcha.
Julia: I want to talk about the Great Fissuring.
Eric: Oh, my God.
Brandon: Do you?
Amanda: Let's do it.
Eric: Do we?
Julia: Are you guys okay?
Brandon: Are we okay?
Julia: Did you guys felt good?
Brandon: I mean, we weren't in the fissuring. So, yeah, that's fine.
Amanda: Yeah, no, we made it.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: There was that whole mini issue about how we made it out.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Because we did die, but then we made it back.
Brandon: Right. Me and Amanda, Brandon and Amanda.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved how they rendered us, Brandon. It was so— we were just pointillism printing dots—
Brandon: Hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: —in an otherwise fully illustrated comic. It was great.
Brandon: Yeah. But my muscles were huge, so it was great.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Brandon had the fattest ass. I can't believe it.
Julia: Hmm. Dump truck-esque.
Brandon: Well, my muscles were huge—
Julia: Uh-huh.
Brandon: —and a butt is a muscle—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —so—
Amanda: There you go. That's thinking, baby.
Julia: I've heard that. I've heard that.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: That's new biology.
Julia: It just— it was a real wild moment of, I think, "Oh, we're turning this into a joke," and also, "Uh-oh, uh-oh. This is going to be a thing now. Uh-oh."
Brandon: I don't see what the issue is, Julia, so you tell me what the problem with the Great Fissuring is.
Julia: Well, maybe it's because you don't remember, because it fell into the Great Fissuring.
Eric: Again, just like—
Amanda: It's true.
Eric: —saying it to Wordsmith's face was crazy. That's the thing that prevented me the most.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: It was like, you're just saying this guy's drama, back to him, to his face.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Actual play is a team sport, and I have to make sure I'm carrying my weight. And creating and evoking the Great Fissuring that'll take me through the next, like, two, three episodes. You know what I mean?
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah. I just— wow. It just was a thing, huh? And we were all like, "Well, yeah, this is what happens to our world."
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: The choice, in my mind, was— because I was going to hammer one joke home, was, do we want 9/11 in this universe or do we want the Great Fissuring? So you tell me.
Julia: Personally, I like the Great Fissuring.
Brandon: Yeah, me too.
Eric: No.
Amanda: Yeah, more appropriate, I think.
Julia: I feel less personally impacted by the Great Fissuring than I do by 9/11, so—
Brandon: Yeah, because you weren't in the issue.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: 'Cause the— you pissed off the writer and artist that week, so they were like, "Fuck Julia. We're cutting her out.”
Julia: That's fair.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: I'm okay with that, actually. Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, I got—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —pulled out of fifth grade because of the Great Fissuring. It was—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Yeah, sad. Sad.
Brandon: It's weird you're in fifth grade when you were 32.
Julia: It did happen in 202X, so—
Amanda: It was also—
Eric: You're right, yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, it was also the time-space continuum fissuring as well as we all know.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Right. Oh, sure.
Eric: Well, that doesn't exist. The multiverse doesn't exist, so I don't know what you're talking about.
Brandon: Time-space continuum doesn't exist, though?
Eric: I don't think so.
Brandon: Oh, okay.
Julia: Oh, see, what I think happened is there's— again, there's a single timeline, because the multiverse does not exist. And then the Great Fissuring happened, and then, like, the timeline went, "Woop." And then when the Great Fissuring closed, "Woop."
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: And then they reconnected.
Amanda: Ah.
Eric: Oh.
Julia: And now, there's a big gap of time where a lot of the stuff— I'm spitballing now, I'm rolling. Where a lot of the stuff— where people are like, "Oh, my God. Like, all of a sudden it's really like sci-fi and fantasy in this comic book world where it was, like, pretty down-to-earth previously that we had seen because of the Great Fissuring."
Brandon: Oh, it's Great Fissuring.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. All that stuff that you don't remember about the aliens and the Burlbs and the wizard towers and the whatnot, it's because you forgot about it because they fell into the Great Fissuring.
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah.
Eric: All the ley lines went—
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: —into the Fissuring and they came back out.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: They did.
Brandon: Now, Julia, for the listening audience, could you explain what "Voop" was with your hands?
Julia: Oh. So imagine a timeline, you know?
Brandon: Uh-huh.
Julia: And then imagine something we've talked about so far in this episode, a ravine opening up in the timeline.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Julia: Right? And then when the ravine closes again, the timeline where it was lost, seals itself back up.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: And now, where it's like 2020X and 2030X, or whatever the time that we're currently in is, are way closer together than they were before.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: That's also what I do to my traumas, is I just, like, unzip a little bit of my own timeline, pop them in there, zip them back up.
Brandon: Hmm. Oh, nice.
Julia: Yep. Yep, yep, yep.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: That's nice.
Amanda: I recommend it. It's cheaper than therapy.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I have teens yell at me about my traumas, so—
Julia: Oh. Are you a teacher?
Eric: This is how DC runs their content calendar once every 10 years.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Basically.
Julia: Uh-hmm. There is a Great Fissuring every 10 years and then Tim Drake doesn't exist anymore for some reason.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Now, folks, I have very special extra corner—
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: —of this Afterparty, because we got a lovely email from Myra, she/her, who writes, "I recently started listening to Join the Party right around the time you finished Campaign 3. I binged the entire podcast in four months."
Brandon: Yo.
Julia: Uh-oh.
Amanda: "I've amassed quite a long list of Afterparty questions." Thank you so much.
Julia: Wow, thank you.
Eric: Tell me all the jokes I don't remember making.
Amanda: We sure will. I think maybe Myra spent the Fissuring, catching up on Join the Party, because that's a lot of podcasts for four months. And she also says, "I've really been enjoying Campaign 4 so far, and I can't wait to see where it's gonna go from here." I'm gonna start with the Campaign 4 questions, but you've questions from previous campaigns as well.
Julia: Ooh.
Amanda: "First, what are each of your characters'/NPCs' comfort food and media, books, TV, movies, et cetera?"
Julia: I have an answer for Craft for comfort food, immediately.
Brandon: Do it.
Julia: I think it's the spicy Shin black ramen.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Julia: But with Flamin' Hot Cheetos crumbled on top.
Amanda: Wow.
Julia: As a garnish.
Amanda: That sounds great.
Brandon: Love it. That sounds good. And media?
Julia: I think Craft— let me think of what TV show. Craft likes Scooby-Doo.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Oh.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Any iteration of Scooby-Doo except for the Velma TV show, Craft is into.
Eric: Fair, respect.
Amanda: Julia, yesterday, I saw a grown woman, probably in her 50s, with a full Scooby-Doo leg sleeve tattoo.
Brandon: You.
Julia: Sick.
Brandon: Yo. Love it.
Julia: I can only dream.
Amanda: And I said, "Great."
Julia: Excellent.
Brandon: Love it.
Eric: I'm gonna say I can do one— for one NPC that has both TeamCast—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: —likes it when— I remember this 'cause I used to intern at a local library, and my job was to clean the DVDs. And what you did, you put in, like— and also DVD players. So you put in this one, like, disc that, like, cleans it inside.
Brandon: What?
Julia: Wow.
Eric: And that is both entertainment and nourishment for TeamCast.
Julia: Nice.
Amanda: Aw.
Brandon: That's funny.
Amanda: That's so cute.
Eric: Yeah, fixing the scratches.
Brandon: Oh. As we have established, Connor food is udon noodle soup.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I think media is like— he's very much like a Friends, How I Met Your Mother.
Eric: Nice.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: That kind of like sitcom-y thing.
Julia: All those old sitcoms.
Brandon: Yeah. You can say rom-coms, but I can't even bring myself to say rom coms.
Eric: Julia, that's so fucking rude.
Brandon: Sorry, what did you say? I just blacked out when you said it.
Julia: I said, "All those old sitcoms."
Brandon: Yeah, yeah.
Julia: Because for our characters, those would be kind of old.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: It's like, how Gen Z got really into Friends, you know, 30 years after.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: I think Rowan keeps some knishes in her mini fridge freezer for emergencies. And having one of those with, like, mustard so spicy, it makes your eyes water, is her comfort food.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Amanda: And for media, I was just remembering, I— one of my comfort books is one of the earliest examples of young adult fiction, it's called Annie on My Mind, about two girls in Manhattan who fall in love at—
Brandon: Aw.
Amanda: —in part, the American Museum of National History, or the Met, one of the two. And so I think that's probably one of Rowan's comfort reads.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: That's sweet. I love that.
Julia: That's very sweet.
Amanda: Yeah, Myra also wants to know, "Are you planning to have a naming convention for the arcs in Campaign 4?" I haven't picked up on one so far, but maybe I just didn't notice.
Eric: No, I'm just doing comic book stuff for this one.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Brandon: We ran out of words, I think.
Julia: Yeah, we used Join—
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: —we used the, and we used parties, so we're done.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Exactly.
Eric: We're doing the covers now, and I think it's helping— it's just helping me start episodes and then, so I'm kind of like— you leaning on the cover introductions instead of the naming conventions for the episode titles.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: That's fair.
Amanda: Can we get into some Campaign 2 questions from Myra?
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I'd love to. That's so fun.
Amanda: Yeah, so cute. First one's for me. "Did you have an in-universe reason for Aggie going by that nickname? I have a headcannon that it's because when she was a kid, one of her younger siblings couldn't pronounce Margaret, so they ended up with a very cute baby-voiced Aggie."
Julia: Aggie.
Amanda: And that's exactly right.
Brandon: Aggie.
Julia: Aggie.
Brandon: Aggie.
Amanda: Aggie. Uppies. Aggie.
Brandon: Uppies, Aggie.
Eric: I want to say something about that, too. Every time an NPC called you Agatha, I knew that. I just want you to know, I know what Aggie full name is.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: It made me laugh every time. For Julia, "Did you always—"
Brandon: Well, you didn't answer the question, Amanda.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: No, I think that's exactly right.
Julia: It was Craft.
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: Yes. Exactly. My youngest brother called me "Mem" because he couldn't say Amanda, and all my family still call me Mem to this day.
Brandon: Aw, that's so cute.
Julia: That's very cute.
Amanda: It is very cute. "For Julia, did you always plan for Val to take that level of Phoenix sorcerer? I had thought it was more of a reaction to the mob arc. But the other day, I realized the last name Vesuvio always alluded to fire powers."
Julia: I don't think I ever planned on actually multiclassing with Val. I think in terms of, like, the design of, "Oh, what if we, like, you know, got items from Dr. Morrow and stuff like that?" I knew there was going to be, like, a little bit of a flame aspect to Val, but I don't think I decided to go for that until later. And I was kind of searching around. I was like, "Ooh, Phoenix soul sorcerer. That's kind of fun."
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: That's where trauma magic came from.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: That was the first time we ever talked about it.
Julia: It was the first time we talked about trauma magic. Yeah.
Amanda: Exactly. "For Brandon and Eric, I've been watching Dimension 20 recently, and I noticed that their wild magic sorcerer used a similar mechanic for the surge that you did for Milo, with it becoming more and more likely with each spell. Did great minds think alike or was one inspired by the other?"
Brandon: Yeah, we got it from Dimension 20. I'm pretty sure.
Eric: Yeah. Brennan Lee Mulligan brought— came to my apartment and took a bat to me, and asked me for a wild magic surge.
Brandon: And said, "This is because it's most interesting."
Eric: Yeah. No, I— we— I took it from there. It was great.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Hell yeah.
Brandon: And we also took the class from— or I got the inspiration or something from— what's the one that looks like Julia on the show?
Julia: You— circle of spores.
Brandon: Yeah, but who's the player?
Julia: Who looks like me on the show?
Eric: Emily Axford?
Brandon: Emily Axford, thank you.
Julia: Emily— I'm very flattered. Thank you. I was like, "I don't know who you're going to say and I'm a little nervous."
Brandon: The tall, blonde, British one, or whatever.
Julia: Yeah, that makes sense.
Brandon: No. Yeah, that's why I took the inspiration from Emily Axford's character as well for the circle of spores, so—
Amanda: As we all should.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: If everyone just, like, thought about how Emily Axford would approach a situation before playing any game or making any content, I think just the world would be better.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Did we not think that Julia doesn't look almost exactly like Emily Axford? Am I crazy?
Julia: Thank you very much, Brandon. I appreciate it.
Amanda: I see the resemblance.
Eric: I— yeah, no, you're not wrong.
Eric: You're not wrong.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I just had to run through all the cast members in my head like before doing, I'm like—
Brandon: I just always thought that.
Eric: She doesn't look like Lou. What are we talking about?
Julia: Well, also, Myra had mentioned the wild magic sorcerer. So in my mind, I was like, "Ally Beardsley, is that who you're talking about?"
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Oh, gotcha.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Julia does not currently have a buzz cut, but, you know—
Julia: No.
Amanda: —even a little bit of one.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: You can see— you can still see in my— when I was on Adventuring Party, you can— the first thing I say to Brennan Lee Mulligan is, "You get fucking Greenpoint out of your goddamn mouth."
Amanda: This is true. Let's do some Campaign 3 questions. Oh, Myra. This is so fun. "Did Cammie have the ability to curse others the way she was cursed?" And this is in all caps, "COULD SHE AND NONNY CREATE AN ARMY OF OTHER WITCHES AND NONNYS?"
Julia: That is a great question. Mechanically, I don't think Mage Hand Mike had a way that the witch class could curse people to become witches like Cammie was. I love the idea. I think it's cool as hell. I don't think mechanically, I had a way of doing that.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Baba rutabaga doing it just based on her whims, I think also was something I really wanted to lean into. That is like you only got cursed if you went on her porch, because—
Julia: Yep.
Eric: —she's just like not— she— you know, when something changes your life so dramatically and, like, the person who does it, just doesn't care, or it's on a whim, it's— was kind of something I was thinking about when we were putting that stuff together.
Julia: It's even more fucked up.
Eric: Yeah, exactly.
Amanda: And there is a question for me as well, "What guided the decision to make Troy aroace coded? As a recently discovered asexual myself, we don't get much representation, and even less of it is actually good. Troy was a breath of fresh air in that sense for me. I'm curious what the inspiration was behind his character and how you managed to play him so well."
Julia: Aw.
Amanda: Myra, that is so nice of you to say. I just think it's— made sense for his character in my mind. And I agree with you that, as someone who reads almost every queer book out there that I can possibly find, there is definitely a lack of aroace spectrum representation. I've seen that more and more addressed in romance novels, in rom-coms, like in all those kinds of things. And I just— I think it's important. I think it's how people are, some people, and Troy is one of those people. Big buff boy doesn't want to kiss.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: And I think it's important to go with your gut. And there was not really— like for all my characters, they're all gonna be queer, because I am. And that is the letter of the alphabet that, in my mind, made the most sense for Troy.
Julia: Yurr.
Brandon: Love it.
Eric: So I think the three of you need to thank Lucky Edie for that, and in the introduction of Lucky Edie as a character, so that we could fully explore this, and that we can have the aroace representation. So on three say, "Thank you, Lucky Edie." 1, 2, 3.
Julia: Fuck you, Lucky Edie.
Amanda: No.
Julia: I won't do it.
Brandon: You'll never have it. You'll never have it.
Eric: Lyle, come back. Lyle, come back, please, help me. Water me, please.
Amanda: And Myra's final question is, "What were each of your majors in college? I'm about to start my senior year of high school with no idea what I want to major in, so it's been on my mind."
Julia: I was a history and religious studies major in college. I would not recommend it for the job market. I got very lucky.
Amanda: I was an English major. I concentrated in, like, media criticism, especially like digital media, new media. Has absolutely no application to what I'm doing now, except that I am a good critical thinker and reader, which I think it would have been anyway, because that's what I love to do. I ended up choosing the thing that let me do the thing I most wanted to do, which is read books and talk about them with other people. And every single thing I have done in my life, I learned at other jobs to inform my future jobs. So I probably would have listened to my dad and done a business minor if I could do it again, or something interdisciplinary, like make up your own major type situation. As Eric has talked about in the past, Gallatin at NYU does that really, really well. So—
Eric: Oh, I wish I had fucking done that.
Brandon: Don't do that. Don't do that.
Eric: I wish I'd done it. I wish I had done it. Doesn't matter. You should do that instead.
Brandon: Don't— I— my friend did it, and it's a pain in the ass, and it's a terrible— no one knows what it is when you go and— to get a job. Don't make up your own major.
Eric: Yeah. That's fair.
Amanda: So, yeah, English, you'll get a lot of cracks about what you're going to do with the major, and then, you know, you could figure it out. I think it just kind of, like, pulls the veil back on the fact that what you major in in college has very little to do with what kind of job you get after.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Totally. Yeah, I think, like— I'm a big proponent that nobody needs to go to college in general. Like, if you want to be a trades person, like you should be, just because it's also crazy expensive in the US. I was a music business major, so sort of helpful in that, like, I learned some business stuff, but, like, not really. I was planning to go into the music business, but then, you know, as you learn through doing a major, because how would you know before that, the industry sucks ass. So like—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —you know, you waste four years of your life and a bazillion dollars to learn that the thing you want to do isn't fun. So I think, like— yeah, I don't know, there's no good advice for a major in college, but like, definitely just sort of, like, do what you want to do.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: There's no correlation.
Amanda: Sample widely. Yeah.
Eric: I was a dramatic literature major for a while, which was in the English department at NYU. It was basically just English for plays. But then I had to switch to English because my dad got on my back and said, "You need to have a job after this, so go become an English teacher like you said you were going to." And I said, "Fine." So then I needed to have an English degree in order to teach in New York City, so I had to change it. And then I had to do, like, all of my prerequisites and— senior year, like I was reading all the, quote-unquote, "great books" senior year, and I wanted to die. Like, I could legally drink. Leave me alone.
Julia: Please don't make me read this.
Amanda: I don't want to read Henry James.
Eric: Why am I reading the Epic of Gilgamesh? So, yeah, I agree with Brandon. It's like, you know, the things you do in college really don't, honestly— like, just do what you want to do, and then you'll figure it out afterwards.
Brandon: Can I also offer, for any seniors out there, it is also an option to take a year off after high school to either— if you're, you know, privileged enough to go travel or whatever, do that, but also you could just get a job for a year at, like, retail or something, and have time to actually just think and think about yourself and what you like and what you want to do without the burden of high school.
Amanda: And checks watch, what you've been through in the last five years.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: I feel that, yeah.
Brandon: Yeah. I really wish I would have taken that advice when it was given to me. So something you should think about if your parents are amenable to that.
Eric: There's a lot of, like, non-college programs, too. Like, you can go do a thing for a year. Like—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: I don't— I— it's so broad, I don't want to say any examples. So it's like, you can go, like, work somewhere. Like, there's a whole program for people who do this stuff, so yeah, go check that stuff out.
Brandon: Yeah. I don't know how y'all felt, but I just felt so fucking pressured senior year and junior year to be like, "You have to figure out your entire life in the next minute, otherwise you'll die."
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: And I was like—
Amanda: Yeah, no, I definitely did.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Now, Brandon, do you think that's relevant that we're doing this campaign right now?
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I don't think so.
Eric: Oh, okay. Cool, cool, cool.
Amanda: Huh.
Julia: Probably not.
Eric: I dunno.
Amanda: Incredible. What I can definitely say is that none of us are living the lives we pictured we would be living when we were, you know, 17 and stressing about this stuff. And at least for me, the life I'm in is way better than the life I could have pictured for myself, and doesn't look anything like that.
Brandon: Yeah, preach.
Julia: Yurr.
Amanda: All right, folks, time for Next Issue on Join the Party. AKA, who can say?
Brandon: Wee.
Amanda: This is from Lyle, "What is in the box?" Myra, coincidentally, also said, "What's in the box?"
Brandon: Oh.
Amanda: So, Eric, can you just, like, tell us real quick, what's in the box?
Brandon: What's in the box, Eric?
Eric: It's a birthday cake. It's my birthday. You all forgot my birthday. Good job.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: Yay! I'm sorry we forgot your birthday, but, yeah, we get to eat cake.
Amanda: No, it's the time loop.
Eric: Yeah, we were— you guys were stuck in a time loop, so you forgot.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Oh, it happens to me all the time. And from the Question Surgeon, "When the guy in the kiln ate Connor's notices from his Aunt's organization, did it truly erase from existence the problem or just the papers?"
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: Who can say? Is Connor a big dumb, dumb idiot, or is Brandon a genius?
Julia: Whoa. One of the other.
Eric: Oh, what if it's both, Brandon? Honestly, what if it's both?
Amanda: I'm stoked, but that is all coming up Next issue on Join
the Party. Players, we did it.
Brandon: Wee!
Eric: Wee!
Amanda: Yay!
Julia: Huzzah.
Amanda: All right. Well, we will see you, by the way— oh. Wait, what's this?
Brandon: What?
Amanda: Breaking news.
Brandon: What?
Julia: What?
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): It's me, Sunchoke.
Brandon: Oh, shit.
Eric: Oh, God. Who let Sunchoke come in?
Julia: Hey, Sunchoke, what's up?
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): I heard you got 50 more paying patrons, and that another One Shot from the One Shot Derby will be coming out in two weeks' time for paying patrons at patreon.com/jointhepartypod.
Brandon: Yeah, that did happen.
Julia: I love how she says, "Patreon."
Brandon: "Patreon." We'd steal them from your Patreon. We
sort of, like, converted them back over to the light side, so—
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): oh, I'm only on OnlyFans now.
Julia: Okay. Fair enough.
Eric: Well, OnlyFans is RSS feed support. That's awesome.
Julia: It's actually really cool.
Eric: It's great.
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): Yeah, it's actually really creator friendly, because as goes sex workers, so goes the rest of the internet.
Eric: Oh, no.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: The worst person you know made a really good point.
Julia: Damn. Called out.
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): So just like, I mean, thanks, I guess, for giving us your money. And we'll see you, obviously, on Tuesday with a new episode, because it's important that, you know, you depend on me, particularly Sunchoke McGarry, for your Tuesday routine. And then in about 10 days, you'll get the one Shot Derby too at patreon.com/jointhepartypod.
Julia: Thanks, Sunchoke.
Brandon: I just need to say, again, Sunchoke, we did say you're not part of this podcast. You did hear us when we said that? You're not part of Join the Party. Just—
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): But then, why am I running your viral TikTok?
Brandon: Fuck.
Julia: That's a good point. Just let her do it, Brandon.
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): Bitch.
Julia: We haven't been paying her. It's fine.
Brandon: Maybe if I say bye, it'll stop, bye!
Julia: Later.
Amanda (as Sunchoke McGarry): May your rolls trend ever upward.
Eric: I hate her. I hate her so much.
[theme]
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]