Welcome to Water’s Edge Academy! I know things are exciting and scary and you have a lot of questions, so we found the perfect students to help get you started. Give a BIG HELLO to Connor, Craft, and Rowan.
We’re playing Masks for this campaign! You can access a running list of all the NPCs from Campaign 4 here.
Get your limited-edition C2 oneshot on VINYL now!!
Sponsors
- Mage Hand Press, whose fantastic Valda’s Spire of Secrets 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 (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
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: F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby, "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." That explains why so many high schoolers read The Great Gatsby every school year. The red, orange, and yellow blaze of trees is most resonant with new beginnings for those of us 18 and younger. That and the fact that there are literal eyes watching the depraved things the rich characters are doing. It's symbolism needed for starting critical literacy in people's brains, honestly, no matter what the age. Go read The Great Gatsby. It's a good book. So players, how's this for symbolism? The first page of our comic is divided in half, the top, the brilliant colors of September in Jupiter, New York, a suburb of the bustling, super-powered metropolis, Lake Town City in upstate New York.
Brandon: That's so good.
Eric: It is 90 minutes by train and 65 minutes if you're flying and speeding.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: In the background is the vibrant confetti of a fall forest, but what grabs our attention is the shining chrome entrance to Water's Edge Academy, named one of the five best high schools in all of New York State, if not the entire East Coast. Nowhere else will you get an education for your powers, your character, your mind, and your literal superpowers. We see the sun glistening off the water of the lake and the various tentative bridges that connect the island that Water Edge perches upon to the actual suburb of Jupiter. It's divided so obviously, that's symbolism. Here's some more symbolism. The bottom half of our page is divided by a darkening water line, is the dank, dark, and nasty sewers that snake below Jupiter.
Julia: Dank, nasty sewers.
Eric: A figure stands resolute even in the nasty and cramped corners. It's so nasty. I said, nasty multiple times.
Julia: Nasty, nasty, nasty.
Eric: The figure should be stooped a bit so their head does not touch anything above them, but they stand at full height. They look like a rectangle, if you just imagine, like two blocks by one block, two blocks up, one block sideways. They are big, my friends. We can't see much as their dark blue boilermaker suit and matching dark blue full face mask is so close to the darkness down there, but we can see the white eye holes of a large domino mask. They splash forward one large boot and then another. It's hard when you walk confidently to be stealthy. Every time their foot moves forward, there's a big splash. They're staying alert, but yet still proud that they know they shouldn't be in the sewers. But if anyone asked them about it, they wouldn't be able to throw them out even if they tried. At that moment, we see, "splash," as three giant crocodile bust out of the water, the whites of their teeth matching only the whites of the domino mask on our large figure. And a voice confidently rings out—
Eric (as Wordsmith): Glavo!
Eric: A sword appears out of nowhere, catching that same lights, clank, cling, cling. That's what a alligator sounds like when it's stabbed by a sword. The illustrators can figure out what that sound is.
Julia: The word art is odd.
Eric: I don't know how to spell that.
Julia: I'm not quite sure what it spells out.
Eric: And then—
Eric (as Wordsmith): Poslampo.
Eric: As a beam of light coming from a oversized camping flashlight appears in the figures, large and gloved hand. They continue to take their steps forward as the alligators retreat. There's something even bigger lurking in the darkness. Now, you see like a little sliver of it as the beam of light from the giant flashlight cuts through the sewers. Maybe— is that an eye? Is that a wing? A flesh? What is that?
Eric (as Wordsmith): Come out, Fatberg. I swear!
Julia: What?
Brandon (as Fatberg): You'll never catch me. This is my domain, and you don't belong here.
Brandon: And this is where I introduce my character, Fatberg.
Brandon (as Fatberg): No matter what you say, have a good school year.
Eric (as Wordsmith): It is going to be a good school year, foriru.
Eric: As waves of purple energy emit off of the large character, kind of making small waves in the nasty and dank sewer water, and pushing any errant alligators in the sewers aside. Our large figure looks around, takes a deep breath in, regrets it, and says— because we're in the sewer.
Brandon: We’re in the sewer, yeah.
Julia: Sure, in the sewer, nasty.
Eric: And says, taking up the entire panel—
Eric (as Wordsmith): Reveni!
Eric: And, like, using an escape rope in Pokemon spins around and goes back to the top of our first panel. Moving faster than our eyes can register across the sparkling lake towards Water's Edge Academy. It is freshman week at Water's Edge Academy. We're getting started. All of the freshmen are just running around. They're trying to follow where they're supposed to go. They're looking at their schedules. They're trying to zip up their backpacks to try to look cool. They're doing a bad job of it.
Brandon: Aw.
Eric: Don't worry, freshman week is before classes even start, so they have some time to mess around. Especially they got to get used to living at the dorms over on the separate second island of Water's Edge Academy, which a lot of them are not used to it, considering the fact that it's only day three, and 50% of the student— of the freshman student body are wearing pajama pants.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: They'll have their lanyards around their necks, like little froshes.
Brandon: Aw.
Eric: Oh, you know it.
Julia: Do they all have little, like, folded out maps of the campus?
Eric: It's on the back side of their lanyards, Julia.
Julia: Oh, that's actually really helpful.
Amanda: That's really helpful, actually. I love that.
Eric: It's— like your, your ID is in your— is in, like, the little pocket of your lanyard and—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —the map is on the back.
Julia: Wow.
Eric: It's unfortunate, though, because all of the electrical problems that they had last year, all of the ops budget over the summer went towards getting the two electrical heroes to fix that issue so they only have one size fits all lanyards, which is really hard for the, like, giant boulder freshmen running around and, like, the little frog freshman who's jumping about.
Brandon: Oh, I want to be best friends with the frog freshman.
Amanda: Yeah. They have to grab the lanyard like eight times around their little belly.
Brandon: Frög, frog, frog, frog.
Eric: Pointing these 14 and 15-year-olds in the right direction, like an air traffic controller, is everyone's favorite head guidance counselor and senior class liaison, that's, with a little caption at the bottom, Margarita de Rivadavia, or you can just call her Miss Rita, honestly.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Eric: You can recognize her because her glasses always match her blazer and always match her shoes, and she has the uniform of white blouse and black jeans. That's necessary for you to have a uniform when your skin and your hair continues to change color depending on the dominant emotions in the room, and her whole body is like a unfortunate puce.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, that makes sense.
Julia: Everyone's so nervous.
Amanda: That's the color of anxiety, ain't it?
Brandon: Holy shit.
Eric: It's like—
Eric (as Miss Rita): No, everyone, I understand tensions are high. I know you don't know where you're going. Don't lie to me. Look at my coloring. Let's just— we're all going in there. You're gonna have lunch and that we're going to have— and then we're gonna have activities afterwards. Don't worry, you can't get lost. Once you're here, you can't get lost. I pointed you in the right directions. We're going this way. We're going this way. If you have a question, just ask Miss Rita or the other guidance counselors that we have here at Water's Edge. Remember, there's no I in we. We're doing this together. We— it's Water's Edge— we— all right, just— come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Brandon (as Frög): What about Nintendo's Wii? There's an I in that one.
Eric (as Miss Rita): What's your name?
Brandon (as Frög): Frög.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Frög. I got my eye on you, Frög.
Julia: Frankie Frög.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Frankie Frög, I have my eye on you.
Amanda (as Freshman #1): Miss Rita, if you cut off one of the legs of the W and then you make it stand up and you give it a hat, then there would be an I in we.
Eric (as Miss Rita): I'll listen to you if you keep walking, but you're— I need you to talk and walk at the same time. Keep going. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Brandon: Oh no, you stepped in mud.
Amanda: Trips over their pajama bottoms, aaah.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric (as Wordsmith): And I'm not late.
Eric: The dark blue wearing figure from the sewers stops— stop spinning and lands next to Miss Rita, using their incredible bulk to help Miss Rita point folks in the right direction. The navy blue figure steps out of the boiler suit and kind of just throws it into the bush because it's gross. Stepping out and you see their full bulk. They are truly— maybe 20 rectangles tall and 10 rectangles wide.
Brandon: I could understand 18, but 20?
Eric: 20 rectangles, my man.
Julia: So many rectangles.
Eric: 20 squares tall and 10 squares wide.
Amanda: In my head, I am measuring this person against a Budweiser Draft horse, which is like 16, 17 hands at most, that's like maybe 15 rectangles.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So as they step out of the boiler maker suit, they have another dark blue ensemble, but it is just a full dark blue velvet suit.
Brandon: Ooh. Nice.
Eric: Dark blue velvet tie, dark blue velvet jacket, dark blue pants, dark blue velvet very large shoes and—
Amanda: No shirt, bare chest.
Eric: And a dark—
Amanda: Glasses shining.
Eric: And a dark blue button-down shirt underneath.
Amanda: Damn it.
Eric (as Wordsmith): If you have questions for me, just direct them to Miss Rita. I'm doing principal things. That's me, Wordsmith.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: Now, you are peaking every time you use this voice, should I turn down your gain?
Eric (as Wordsmith): A-ha.
Amanda: Nope, he's fine. Just aim it at the ceiling, and then you're fine.
Eric (as Wordsmith): Wordsmith points the important words at the ceiling.
Julia: Excelsior.
Amanda: Ever upward. Great.
Eric (as Wordsmith): That's what we do in New York State, and also at Water's Edge Academy.
Eric: You even see the words Water's Edge Academy, like, appear above him.
Julia: And they're in dark blue.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, they're in navy dark blue.
Amanda: There's like an imprint on the ceiling of many other words, like when you throw a tennis ball or a pinky ball at the ceiling.
Julia: Then janitors repainting that every morning.
Eric: Yeah. When you throw pencils at, like, one of those drop ceilings.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. So now, we turn the page and we go into the auditorium where Wordsmith and Miss Rita are corralling the freshmen after lunch to get into their seats.
Eric (as Wordsmith): Hello!
Julia: Every time I'm just picturing the words over Eric's head. It's very funny.
Eric: Honestly, you should.
Amanda: In the word art, where it's shaped like a megaphone, like the words—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: —are narrow at the bottom and then get big.
Julia: It's always like—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: —arced or bannered.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Eric (as Wordsmith): Hello or saluton!
Eric: And you see a big hand appears above Wordsmith's head and waves to the freshmen.
Brandon: Whoa.
Eric: Like a big gloved Mickey Mouse hand.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: Hey, if we did it as our Mage Hand in Campaign One, we're bringing it back for Campaign Four.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Is the gloved Mickey Mouse hand, the most recurrent character in all of JTP? Possibly.
Julia: Very possible.
Eric: Probably.
Eric (as Wordsmith): Incoming freshmen, I hope you all enjoy the tours of the grounds, and you're getting settled into your dorm, and you ate a nutritious meal of equal amounts, protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins. But we have our most scintillating portion of the day, our senior panel, where you can talk to seniors of Water's Edge Academy, that's us. That's our school, about what it's really like. These three that you're going to talk to are from one of our club teams, which the academy had put together at the beginning of freshman year. That's you!
Brandon (as Freshman #2): Woo. Yay.
Julia (as Freshman #3): Yeah.
Brandon (as Freshman #2): Yeah.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay. All right. Thank you, principal Wordsmith, I'll take it from here. Yes, I'm going to moderate this panel for all of you. You're going to be able to ask your questions later, so get excited. Start to think about it. Remember, a comment isn’t a question, it has to end in a question mark. Everyone knows that, but now you know that, so we're all on the same page.
Eric: Miss Rita gets up and on the stage of the auditorium where there are three seats laid out for the three of you. And that is when our three characters walk out, and the freshmen tepidly don't know if to cheer or clap. So it's like—
Eric (as Freshman #4): All right.
Julia (as Freshman #2): Yeah.
Brandon (as Freshman #3): Yeah.
Amanda (as Freshman #1):Oh, no. Oh, I did it louder.
Eric: Someone sneezes really loud.
Julia (as Freshman #2): [sneezes]
Brandon (as Frög): [coughs] Ribbit.
Eric: Someone— a bunch of people burped because it's after lunch.
Amanda: Someone drops their pencils, goes—
Amanda (as Freshman #1): Huh!
Brandon: Huh!
Amanda: See, that's the sea shanty in Campaign Three.
Eric: No, that's good. That's good.
Eric (as Freshman #4): Oh, I dropped my whole thermos of iced tea. Oh, God.
Amanda (as Freshman #1): I'm gonna upchuck.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay. So here are three— we are three members of one of our club teams. I want to give each of them an opportunity to introduce themselves. Why don't we go— I don't know. Let's go to left to right. Shelley, why don't you get started?
Julia (as Shelley Craft): What is up, theydies and gentlethems? I am Craft.
Julia: Look— and then looks at Miss Rita.
Julia (as Craft): What else am I supposed to say?
Eric (as Miss Rita): Oh, that's Shelley Craft, everybody.
Julia (as Craft): Just Craft. Just Craft.
Eric: And then we cut to the splash page. This is Julia's character, Shelley Craft.
Brandon: Woo.
Amanda: Yay.
Julia: Shelley Craft.
Brandon: Hey.
Eric: Julia, why don't you start— and we're gonna do this for each one of the characters. Why don't you just start off by describing what Shelley Craft looks like, and then we'll get into some of the stuff on your playbook.
Julia: Yes. Craft is a hulking six-foot-eight.
Amanda: Uh—
Julia: Gray green skin.
Amanda: Oh.
Julia: Shaved, like as close to the skin as possible, white hair. You can kind of still see the lobotomy lines underneath the shaved head.
Amanda: Oh.
Eric: Now, how appropriately did you dress to talk to freshmen? And how many, like, stitches do we see because of that?
Julia: You can see a decent amount of stitches, probably not the ones on the shoulders, but definitely the ones on the arms here and here, and the ones attaching the neck to the chest.
Eric: Sure. Sure.
Brandon: Huh?
Eric: It gives decolletage a whole new meaning, for sure.
Julia: Yes. Craft is wearing the outfit that she always wears, which is just, like, torn up blue jeans and a green, pink, and black drug rug.
Brandon: Drug rug? What does that mean?
Julia: Like the— you know, a stoner sweater?
Amanda: A stoner poncho, with like a kangaroo pocket.
Julia: Google it very quickly, Brandon. You'll see exactly what I mean.
Brandon: Drug rug.
Julia: Drug rug.
Amanda: Probably you and your skater hoodlums wore them.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Julia: What do you call that, Brandon? I'm just curious.
Brandon: The— yeah, we didn't have a great word, but I would say poncho.
Julia: Uh-huh.
Eric: It's so funny. That's not a color combination I've seen before, green, pink, and black, and I love that you have them. That's awesome.
Julia: I have a beach blanket that is those colors in that same fabric, so I was like, "That's what Shelley would wear."
Eric: That's sick.
Amanda: I'm pissed that someone has named a character after Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and it wasn't me.
Julia: Yeah. There you go. There you go. And just her hands are, like, shoved into, like, the front pocket of the poncho, and it's like—
Julia (as Craft): "Sup?"
Eric: That's what she's saying on the splash panel.
Brandon: It's a two-page splash panel, and it's a beautiful image of her and then just says, "Sup?"
Eric: The highest res image we do— this is like when they announce new characters in Super Smash Bros.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: It was the glossiest JPEG and Shelley Craft is saying, Sup?"
Julia: Oh, and also, like, you can smell the weed on her. Like, she, like, was in the hallway smoking and then came into the auditorium.
Eric: True.
Amanda (as Freshman #5): What's that weird smell?
Eric: Miss Rita saw your eyes and made you speak first.
Brandon: Every other freshman looks at that freshman who said, "What's that smell?" is like, "What the hell are you doing, dude?"
Julia: "Who are you?"
Eric: All right, let's talk about your playbook. Remember, playbooks are what we use to define different character archetypes here in Masks, like a class. So, Julia, tell us a little bit about your playbook and what that means for your character.
Julia: Yeah. So Craft is actually the Scion playbook, and I'm gonna read what Masks writes for the Scion, which is, "You're the child of a true villain. Not a creation, not an acolyte, just their freaking kid. And when anyone who knows looks at you, all they can see is your parent, like you don't even matter. Well, screw that. You're out to prove yourself as someone different from them, and how better to do that than to be a superhero?" Ah, so good.
Brandon: And what are Craft's pronouns?
Julia: She/her, baby.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Amanda: A hulking six-eight she/her. You love to see it.
Julia: With a shaved head, we love to see it. We're fucking with the gender as much as possible today.
Brandon: Now, did you say the neck was attached?
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Like— as in, like, glued and/or stitched?
Julia: Stitched.
Brandon: Okay, cool.
Julia: Now, Brandon, go ahead and think of sort of your classic Frankenstein's monster.
Brandon: Uh-huh.
Julia: Shelley Craft, baby.
Brandon: Okay, cool.
Amanda: Hell yeah, dude.
Brandon: That's cool as fuck. I love it.
Eric: Let's talk about the special thing that you get as your Scion. Let's talk about your lineage, Julia.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: We got some questions here that you had to figure out while making your playbook. Can you tell us a little bit about your dad? About your villain parent?
Julia: Yeah. My dad is a mad scientist character. I believe Eric and I agreed on Dr. Prometheus.
Eric: Dr. Prometheus.
Brandon: That's good. That's good.
Amanda: Oh, my God.
Eric: All the scientists love being incredibly on the nose, because there's a doctor out there called Dr. Cassandra Morrow.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. And he's like, "Well, fuck that. I gotta pick something better." He and I have, I would say, a relationship full of denial.
Eric: Hmm.
Amanda: Oh.
Julia: I'll leave it at that.
Eric: Tell— no. No, tell me what that— what does that mean?
Julia: We'll say that Dr. Prometheus is currently in prison.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Oh, God.
Amanda: Okay.
Julia: And we don't really talk.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: We don't talk that much.
Eric: The thing about the Zion— the Scion class is that your villain parent needs to be very good at what they do.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I suppose that Dr. Prometheus made a— alongside of what's going on with Shelley Craft, also has a weather controlling machine—
Julia: Yes.
Eric: —that he used to great advantage, probably for an entire year.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And he is currently in villain prison for doing that. But, like, he—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —is at large and incredibly powerful and good at what he does. Like, he is not a goofy mad scientist like Dr. Morrow. He is like a real deal— he's a real deal baddie.
Brandon: I can't believe you would say that about our beloved Dr. Morrow, Eric.
Eric: She— I mean, would you say that, like— how much of a threat to national security is Doc Brown? You know what I mean?
Julia: Uh-hmm. The other thing, too, that they ask is they have an array of abilities, assets and strengths. What are some of those? I've chosen diabolical machines and unrivaled genius.
Eric: For sure.
Julia: Again, mad scientist vibes.
Amanda: Now, Julia, would it be rude to ask if Craft is constructed or born?
Julia: Yes, it would be.
Amanda: Shit. Fuck. Sorry.
Eric: I will say only for the playbook, because the literal lie in the— Julia said is like, this is not a creation. This is not like a minion. This is their literal child. Obviously, Shelley Craft has Frankenstein vibes. There's obviously something that Dr. Prometheus sees her as, like, progeny, very explicitly.
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: For sure.
Eric: Not asking Shelley Craft the character, but what Masks says is what—
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: Right.
Eric: —I'm defining.
Amanda: Sure.
Julia: Also, hey, the answer might be both.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: Really.
Brandon: Who can say?
Julia: Who can say?
Eric: True.
Amanda: Hey.
Eric: Here's the fun part about what's going on with you. What are your superpowers, my friend?
Julia: So Shelley Craft's powers are electrokinesis and regeneration.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: That's so cool.
Eric: So sick.
Brandon: Now, for everyone else out there who thinks they know what electrokinesis is but may not— definitely not me.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Could you maybe define what that means?
Julia: Yeah. Right now, the way that it manifests for Shelley, at least, is the ability to manipulate and produce, like, lightning effects, pretty much.
Brandon: Effects or, like, lightning?
Julia: I don't think that there's much of a difference between the two.
Brandon: Okay, cool.
Julia: Not in her mind, at least.
Eric: A lot of, like— a lot of electricity, a lot of shouting, "Lightning bolt," as you're doing—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —what you're doing.
Julia: "Lightning bolt. Lightning bolt."
Eric: "Lightning bolt. Lightning bolt." I think we've hit on some of your backstory questions now that we know who your supervillain parent is. Who told you about your parents' true nature?
Julia: Oh, can we do a little scene, Eric, with that?
Eric: I would— Julia, I would love to.
Brandon: Okay. Everyone hop into the scene. Wee!
Eric: I feel like it's 8:30 in the morning.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: You literally just woke up.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: And you ha— what is your room in Dr. Prometheus' scary lab base look like?
Julia: I think, at this point, it is incredibly stark and very sad. It looks like a prison cell.
Eric: Truly. You wake up when you wake up, you turn— you look at the clock is 8:27, and there is no one in this big lab. Usually, there's minions running around. There's weirdos wearing white coats. There's, at least, a robot butler or two getting some sort of drink for someone at some point. And certainly, Dr. Prometheus stomping around, thinking about something, and yelling out towards a toady who's writing down everything that he says. But there is truly no one or nothing. It is so quiet. But then you hear the sound of a helicopter and then, "Crash," as the giant glass dome that encapsulates the base has just so many secret op soldiers just coming down off of helicopters, led by a woman in a sharp suit and an even sharper sword.
Julia: Can I yes and you and say that, as this is all happening, Shelley's just staring at the coffee machine, being like, "The robot butler usually does this. I don't know how to do this."
Eric: Shaking you out of your reverie is—
Eric (as Emily Slaughter): Hey!
Julia (as Shelley): Ye— yes, hello.
Eric: The woman with the sword takes it out of it— out of its sheath, and you see it glow. And as she walks towards you, she slashes it across the ground. And then she pulls out a business card, which she slashes in half and gives you both sides. You put it together, and it says, "Superhero for hire. Emily Slaughter."
Brandon: Oh, God.
Julia (as Shelley): I think this would work a little better if it was both pieces were together. I'm— just a suggestion.
Eric (as Emily Slaughter): And if Dr. Prometheus would teach you anything, you would know that presentation is
half the battle. You— let me help you.
Julia (as Shelley): Okay.
Eric (as Emily Slaughter): You want to go in a helicopter?
Julia (as Shelley): How cool is the helicopter?
Eric (as Emily Slaughter): It's very cool. I should know, I made the budget.
Julia (as Shelley): Okay.
Amanda: Damn. I missed Emily.
Eric: So I think this leads into the next question, why did you turn from your lineage to become a hero? I think we're gonna all touch on a similar question, and I feel like that question is more like, what got you to Water's Edge Academy in the first place?
Julia: I think Emily Slaughter was my sponsor for getting me into the school, because the option was either like, you know, help us track down your father or commit yourself to the life of a superhero and Shelley was like, "Well, I don't want anything to do with that fucking guy, so I guess I'm going to school?"
Eric: And now, you have this absolute girl boss who is keeping you— is trying to keep you on your path towards being the best superhero you possibly can be.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Hey, senior year Shelley Craft, how's that going for you?
Julia: Well, I think you see Shelley on the first day in the same auditorium, sitting in the audience for freshman orientation. And again, six-foot-eight, still, however, long white hair in what looks like a private school uniform, even though there is no school uniform—
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: —for the school.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Like the preppiest thing you've ever seen. And now smash cut to shaved head Shelley in her drug rug, standing on the stage and being like—
Julia (as Craft): I don't know what to say now.
Eric (as Miss Rita): You know, Shelley, we're all set. Thank you. We're gonna go to someone else. You know—"
Julia (as Craft): You got it, Miss Rita. Love you.
Eric (as Miss Rita): All right. I guess I can't say I love you in front of the freshman, but you're— Shelley, you're doing great. You know, let's change up the energy a little bit. Connor, why don't you introduce yourself?
Brandon: First you feel and hear the footsteps of Connor as he enters onto the stage. Because as you look over, you see Connor, who is six-foot-10—
Julia: How dare you, sir? How dare you?
Brandon: Actually, I don't know that he actually is six-foot-10. Let's say he's like—
Eric: I think he's definitely bigger than Shelley, though. Like—
Brandon: Bigger, but I don't know, taller? I don't know.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, I guess square footage. But, like, it's drawn— in the way that I envision it's drawn, like Connor is bigger than Shelley in vibes. You know what I mean?
Brandon: Yes.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yes.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: So, yeah, I think he's actually six-seven, let's say, and just so fucking broad.
Eric: Square.
Brandon: Just so broad.
Eric: Truly square.
Brandon: Square.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah. And he walks onto the stage and says—
Brandon (as Connor Lyons): Hello, everyone. Welcome. We're so glad to have you here. It's so exciting to see all your bright, bushy faces. This is so good. I'm excited to meet you all. Thank you for having me.
Eric: And we hear the slap of three different people vomiting immediately.
Julia: Uh-oh.
Amanda: Why?
Brandon: Well, they're vomiting obviously, because at this— well, one, they're rude and they don't know how to hold their thing.
Julia: Fucking rude.
Eric: Yeah, absolutely.
Brandon: But, yeah, if you were to look up and see Connor Lyons, you would see that he is wearing a sport jacket, of course, because he wants to look nice for—
Julia: Formal.
Brandon: —the orientation. It is too small— and then the way that— you know, like— I don't know if you guys know this, but when people who are masculine do a lot of workouts, they have trouble finding jeans that are the right waist size—
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: —but still fitting their big ass, thick-ass thighs in them.
Amanda: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: The chunky thigh.
Julia: Thigh game's too strong.
Brandon: Chunky thighs.
Amanda: Maybe skip leg day, sometimes.
Julia: Yeah. Just like once or twice.
Brandon: Just like once or twice.
Amanda: Just like a— like every other week.
Brandon: In that same way, just like the arms do not fit this jacket, but the jacket is covering up him, who you will notice, very obviously. He's kind of transparent. It's almost like his skin isn't there. It's like clearly there, because it's holding him together and everything.
Julia: Aw.
Amanda: Oh.
Brandon: But the skin is completely transparent.
Julia: Does he still have organs?
Amanda: Is he a sac of blood and goo?
Brandon: Well, it's kind of like at the bodies exhibit.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: And it's almost like if you were to, like, throw an a visibility potion upon someone, and, like, different amounts seeped in different amounts. So—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —in one part, you sort of see— like, maybe you see a spectral muscle, and the other part you see is liver, and the other part you see some bones and skeleton. And it's really, uh, let's say, disorienting, to say a nice word.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: It's not cool like a cool, mad scientist skeleton man who is like, you know, fun to look at. It's really disheartening.
Amanda: It's giving bodies.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: I'm loving how gross we all are so far. This is awesome.
Eric: It's giving bodies exhibit, truly. Splash page, this is Connor.
Julia: Connor.
Brandon: Wee!
Amanda: Hi, Connor.
Eric: I miss— I really hope that we just see, like, everything in your eye, like just the full eye with the optical nerve going all the way back.
Brandon: Full optic nerve, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, Brandon, what are you playing?
Amanda: What's happening?
Brandon: I am the transformed.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: And I'll read you the text from the book as well. "You could recall a time not too long ago when you looked… normal. When you didn't feel their stares, when you didn't hear their gasps, when no one thought of you as a monster. Those were the days, huh?
Eric: Hell yeah.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Connor, why don't you tell us a little bit about your abilities? Because I think you have two that's on the page.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: But I'd also like to hear a little bit more about what you're good at.
Brandon: Yes. So my abilities that I chose were— one in human might, so it's— when he was transformed, not only to become transparent, but he became big. He's a big, old chunk-ass boy.
Julia: Big.
Brandon: And then I also chose supernatural senses, so he's able to hear things that are very quiet. He's able to see a little bit better than a normal person, just sort of heightened senses. And he uses these abilities in a sort of, you might say like a negotiator or a peacemaker way. He is the one in the battle who is standing in front saying, "Guys, are we sure we need to do this? I think we can maybe talk this out instead.
Amanda: Brandon, are you sure?
Eric: Connor is recognized in the hostage negotiating classes and any of the more, quote-unquote, the quote-unquote, "charisma track" and the, quote-unquote, "support track." Connor is A pluses all the way. He's even TA— he's already signed up to TA, so I'm like—
Julia: Good for him.
Eric: —Talking to Bad Guys 101, is what they call. It. Like, Connor is known for de escalating conflict, by the school. This isn't Eric saying what Brandon's saying. The school recognizes him as being incredible at this.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Wow. Cool.
Brandon: And, obviously, he uses that supernatural senses to gain an advantage in those situations, so he can sort of hear your heartbeat to see if you're lying or—
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Just like Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes.
Brandon: Exactly. Or maybe, you know, he's just hearing to hear— overhear things that you didn't— the whispers you didn't want him to hear kind of thing.
Amanda: I smell your glands. I can smell that you're lying. I smell your glands.
Julia: Like the devil of Hell's Kitchen.
Brandon: Like the devil of Hell's Kitchen.
Eric: I want to make a note of this here, because this is something that's going to come up in this game, that, like, Shelley, we discussed, is strong because she's a big lady, but I think—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —she's as strong as, like, an Olympian is strong.
Julia: Yeah, we talked about it. She's got, like, Olympic athlete levels of strength, but not superhuman strength.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: Which will be important because this is like explicitly Connor's ability on his character sheet.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And this is what we will be thinking about when you want to do something ridiculous, when you want to unleash your powers or do a move.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So I did— so that's just important to note of why we're naming explicitly our superhero abilities.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Amanda: So he has super strength as his ability?
Eric: Yeah. Connor has super strength, while Shelley is just very strong.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Just buff. Let's cut and it's all sepia tone in the next few pages, as we hear Connor's backstory, huh?
Brandon: Sure, I like it.
Eric: Tell us about what you were before, my friend.
Brandon: I think I was just a normal kid. I was that sort of kid in the group who, yeah, was trying to always keep the peace between, you know, fighting friends, sort of the dad of the group or the mom of the group. You know, that kind of guy, but just, otherwise, normal. You know?
Eric: Do we say what you— what age you were when you changed?
Brandon: We didn't, but I would assume probably 10, 11.
Eric: I just love you being the dad of a group of, like, ramshackle 10 and 11-year-olds. You know what I mean? It's so good.
Brandon: I mean, everyone else's, you know, hormones, as they're entering puberty, are going off and getting, you know, hot-headed and short fuse, whereas Connor has always been the one to sort of try to de-escalate the situation.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: And make everyone happy.
Amanda: Connor, how many boys did you kindly tell about deodorant?
Julia: So many.
Brandon: So many, so many.
Eric: He still does.
Julia: So many.
Brandon: He asked his mom if she could go to the store and get little, like, travel-sized sample deodorant—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —so he could hand out to his friends discreetly.
Amanda: So nice.
Eric: You still do that now, don't you?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: You buy— you, like, ask the nurse to buy some so you can give it out.
Brandon: I mean, it'd be weird to do that in high school, but I think definitely like--
Eric: Well, like, freshman—
Julia: A fresh 14-year-old.
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Oh, I feel like you would definitely talk to the nurse and be like, "Hey, so not sure what our stance is on birth control here, but you should definitely just have some sample deodorants, like in the student lounge, just like there."
Brandon: Yeah, I was gonna say, instead of deodorant, it's more like condoms and other forms of birth control, and maybe like extra notepads or pins, just in case they need them, you know?
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: But also, to be fair, you have extraordinary human senses, so when they stank, they stank for you.
Brandon: That's fair. That's fair.
Eric: And respectfully, as a summer camp counselor and teacher of 15 and 16-year-olds, you should still be giving out deodorants.
Julia: Some of them stanky.
Brandon: That's fair. That's fair.
Eric: Yeah. All right. Well, hey, let's get sad. What happened?
Amanda: No! Why? It's 2025. I don't need this.
Eric: Yeah, when did you change and what caused it? Is what I mean.
Brandon: Well, my story is sort of— and, you know, maybe you tell me if I can do this or if this is not okay, but I think I might be sort of playing off of Julia's character a little bit. Maybe intertangle some things here.
Eric: Oh, sure.
Amanda: Please.
Brandon: But at one point, when we were growing up as young boys often do, they're sort of like proving their coolness, their toughness, their smarts to each other. And so, obviously, someone dared one of my friends to break into Dr. Prometheus' lab, maybe.
Julia: Oh, shit.
Eric: Oh, I'm sure he has like bunkers all over Lake Town City, and I'm sure there's also one in Jupiter as well.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: You could probably sneak in and Dr. Prometheus has like a satellite bunker somewhere, yeah?
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: Yeah, definitely.
Julia: That is canonically true.
Brandon: True. Obviously, this is a bad idea, not only because labs are dangerous, but also because it's a super villain's lab.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: And he was trying to convince him to not go through with this, but there was no convincing this particular friend. And so he decided, "Well, if you're gonna do it anyway, I'll just go with you to make sure you're safe." He did that. Something went terribly wrong when they broke into the lab, some vial, some laser gun, some—
Julia: Yeah, he got zapped with something probably.
Brandon: Something, yeah, was about to hit his friend, and so he sort of pushed him out of the way, and took it instead.
Julia: Aw.
Brandon: And he got transformed.
Amanda: So in that moment, you got real big, real strong and patchily transparent?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Cool.
Amanda: Wow.
Brandon: Exactly.
Eric: Such, like, those really, like, resonant panels in Watchmen of Dr. Manhattan coming together.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like, I just imagined that one panel where it's just like the fibers of Dr. Manhattan walking around.
Julia: The nervous system, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, I love that so much.
Brandon: I have this picture in my head of, yeah, like, almost like— almost being, like, covered in a Nickelodeon Gak.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Where like it's just like dripping from my head down as they become more and less transparent different spots.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: I'm also, like, picturing in my mind the, like, '90s shape of Strong Guy from X-Men.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Do you know who I'm talking about? Were it's just so big on top and so tiny at the bottom.
Brandon: Oh, so triangular.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: Johnny Tsunami situation.
Eric: Okay, great. So, yeah, here's the next question, who outside the team is helping you understand your new body/why are you at Water's Edge Academy?
Brandon: Yeah. And I think another thing I want to play off of, and again, tell me, Eric, how would you feel about this? But the idea is that I have an aunt who I was not particularly close to, but a normal aunt, and her job is maybe dispatcher at the Hero for Hire company, maybe.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: Oh.
Brandon: So she works with heroes. She likes heroes, she appreciates what they do for the community. She's a big supporter of superhero rights, all that kind of stuff. But at that same time, my aunt's sister, my mother, my parents never really loved superheroes. They thought they were pretty grotesque. They thought they weren't good for the city. They're good for the community. Not big fans. Obviously, wasn't a problem until their son became a super.
Eric: And let's play out that scene right now. Okay, let's do it.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: No. No, we're not. In my head, it's like— it's very sepia tone, and I just— when you told me that, I'm like, "Yeah, these people, your mom and dad, believe you're dead. They do not believe that this creature is now Connor."
Brandon: Right. Exactly. It's hard for them to— Yeah, yeah, it's hard for them to think that that is even possible anymore.
Eric: Like Connor just died in the bunker?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: Wow.
Brandon: So he turned to his aunt, because obviously she was very supportive of him, and she used the hookups, the people she knows to get him into Water's Edge Academy so he could both live there and not have to deal with the parents day-to-day, but also because he needed to be trained and educated, and help other people, like he wanted to.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Aw.
Brandon: I don't have a name for my aunt, so Julia, if you think of one, let me know.
Eric: I was thinking— no, I keep going to Spanish because I keep thinking--
Julia: I also was thinking Anita, so I'm not sure if that's helpful.
Eric: I was saying like Anita Tigre, because we got lions and tigers.
Julia: There— honestly, that slaps.
Eric: Right?
Julia: That's really fun.
Amanda: Anita Tigre, I would be best friends with right now.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: She also doesn't have to be my actual, quote-unquote, "aunt." She can just be my—
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: —mom's best friend or whatever, too.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: But yeah, yeah, whatever.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: I think that works. I just don't want to play a different— someone who's not white, because I don't— yeah.
Eric: No, no, no, no.
Julia: No, no, you're totally fine.
Brandon: Cool.
Amanda: She could be married to someone named Tigre.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Her husband's from Spain.
Julia: Yeah, totally.
Eric: Anita Tigre pulls strings. She not only pulls strings, she's the one conducting the strings, my friend.
Brandon: Oh, yeah. I mean, she's like head manager. Like, she runs the team of dispatchers. She's not just like a dispatcher.
Eric: The COO of Heroes for Hire.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: So she has the that connects to every super almost, in the city.
Amanda: Wow.
Eric: This is my next question, why don't you just hide yourself away?
Brandon: Well, you know, at some point, the kind of person that Connor is, he just kind of wants to prove a point, is what I wrote.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: He wants to prove a point that he is still a person, no matter what he looks like, and he's a person of value, and he has still skills that can help the community around him and help the people like him. So he's not hiding away purposefully, because he's not scared of how he looks and he wants to prove a point to anyone who is afraid of him.
Eric: I feel like maybe in, like, the first few days after you— your aunt Anita brings you in, you're like sitting in the control room while she's at work, and you just have, like, a big blanket over you, like over your big, broad shoulders. And at some point, she finally gets a moment be like—
Eric (as Anita Tigre): Okay. There's another giant fire taken care of. Good thing I pointed all the water superheroes towards them, because they wouldn't know where to go if I didn't point them.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric (as Anita): How you doing, Connor? You good. Do you need anything? I can get you a sandwich. I can get you a big sandwich.
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah. I mean, do you have sandwiches? I would love a sandwich.
Eric (as Anita): Yeah, I can get you a sandwich. I can get you whatever you want.
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah. Do you have, like, a orange juice?
Eric (as Anita): Yeah. Listen, Connor, don't— you can ask for whatever you want. You know, just because—
Brandon (as Connor): No peppers.
Eric (as Anita): Great. This is great. You know, kid, I know you can't see it right now, but this might be something really good for you. And a lot of people are going to tell you it's bad, but all you have to do is show them how good you are at it, and then eventually, they'll believe you. I know that because it worked for me.
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah.
Eric (as Anita): And I know it's gonna work for you.
Brandon (as Connor): I mean, I guess the best thing about being transparent is that other people will also see me that way.
Eric (as Anita): That's—
Brandon (as Connor): Wink.
Eric (as Anita): Oh, okay. You don't ha— you don't— yeah. Okay, good. Yeah. Okay. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. Let's get you a big sandwich.
[theme]
Amanda: Hey, everybody, it's Amanda. You know that incredible noise of a needle hitting a vinyl record, where it's like silence, but it's full of texture, that is how sinking into this midroll feels. And now, for a totally unplanned segue, ha-ha, just kidding. I have big news for you. We recorded a special episode from Lake Town City in the Campaign Two universe on vinyl. That's right. Surprise, folks. We recorded a full vinyl episode. Press that into a 12-inch Chad Greene vinyl disc, and now you can only hear our shenanigans on this vinyl episode of Join the Party. Let me describe this physical object to you, because it's beautiful. So starting with the cover art, Join the Party listener, Kevin V., absolutely kills it with an extremely gorgeous illustration of Volcani, KillaNova, and Multitool plus their clones playing the marriage game. Yes, that is the plot, and yes, that is what we asked Kevin to illustrate. And lo and behold, here it is. There's also such a cute little sleeve within the vinyl case, like the thing that the record actually goes into, in gorgeous Campaign One purple, with little Januaries hopping all around. Seriously, so cute, so cute. Trust me when I say you want this physical object, I'm obsessed with it. I'm gonna put it on my wall to the end of time. We only have a 100 of them, however, and we are not going to print any more. We have a 100, it's just gonna be a 100. There's not gonna be any more, so you gotta get your get yours now at jointhepartypod.com/merch. But don't worry, if you want a record and don't have a record player, because we love you, every purchase comes with an MP3 of the episode, so you can listen without buying a record player. Folks, this is the first ever vinyl episode of Join the Party. It is limited edition with a full color vinyl, full color jacket, and special record sleeve at jointhepartypod.com/merch. Get yours today. Thank you, and welcome to our newest patrons who helped us get 17 people closer to our goal of 50 new paid patrons. Remember, once we hit 50 new paying patrons, you are going to get a second One Shot from the Derby. That's a full One Shot we play out fully from the One Shot Derby to character creation universe. Thank you to Eric from The River Is A Bird, Samantha Eleanor Ward, Cecilia W., Freya, Alla, Celesiav, Dominic Cooper, Jillian Jenkins, Recon, and Nicole. We are only able to make this show to do things, like spend five months planning and recording and creating a vinyl episode and more because of your support on Patreon. Hey, did you notice the gorgeous art here for Campaign Four? Did you notice Brandon's absolutely incredible theme song, which Eric wrote the monolog for? It's so good. We can only do that stuff and pay the people who help us make our art even higher, like Allyson on cover design and Talia on video, because of your support on Patreon. So help us help you make more Join the Party and make it even better by becoming a paid member on Patreon. That's patreon.com/jointhepartypod. There is so much happening at Multitude right now. Spirits is also rocking and rolling. This is, of course, the history and comedy podcast focused on everything folklore, mythology and the occult, hosted by Julia and me. We cover everything from the mythological origins of major franchises like Lord of the Rings, tropes like the villain in folklore, or the, like, elderly detective or witch figure and everything in between, including modern urban legends and a roundup of all kinds of werewolf tropes or mermaid tropes from all around the world. If these subjects interest you, come on and join us. You can dive into any of the 400 plus episodes we've released over the last eight years, or just start with the newest one at spiritspodcast.com we are sponsored this week by Mage Hand Mike, well, Mage Hand Press, but hi, Mike. Remember Mage Hand Press from campaign three from Verda Stello and Valda's Spire of Secrets? God, we love this stuff. And we are so excited to tell you a few exciting things about Mage Hand Press. First of all, April 1st, the day this episode comes out, is their 10th anniversary. That's so cute. Secondly, Valda's Spire of Secrets, aka the stuff that we brought all of our classes and so much of Campaign Three from, is finally on D&D Beyond. So if you use D&D Beyond, you can see the Valda's Spire of Secrets player pack, which includes the biggest, most ambitious stuff from Valda's Spire of Secrets, boil down to the best handful of options for 5e in 2024. So they are now on D&D Beyond, and you can check it out now. But also, there is just so much to love on the Mage Hand website. Go to magehandpress.com and you can see everything they make, plus take advantage of their 10% off sale throughout April. Don't worry, if you want to access it via D&D Beyond, the link to do that is in the description as well. But they're also giving away 10 copies of Valda's. They're giving away 10 codes to the Dungeons & Dragons Beyond player pack. So folks, you gotta go and check out our friends at Mage Hand Press. If you thought that moving into a new game system meant that we were gonna stop supporting and talking about our faves in the indie TTRPG community, you're wrong. Just kidding. We love you and thank you Mage Hand Mike for supporting the show. Thank you for bringing six subclasses, two species, 12 spells, including chronomancy, new feats and magic items, all to D&D Beyond. So check out magehandpress.com. Do yourself a favor, sign up for their mailing list and support this business. We love you, Mike. Congrats on 10 years. And now, folks, let's get back to the show. A podcast we love that we would love for you to check out is Rude Tales of Magic. In this impoverished narrative-role playing podcast, you join artists, writers and comedians from such distinguished places as Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Marvel Comics and more, as they fight and fumble their way across the madcap and exceedingly rude fantasy wonderland of Cordelia. Branson Reese and his jesters retinue of Christopher Hastings, Carly Monardo, Tim Platt, Joe Lepore and Ali Fisher star as a group of unlikely survivors who must solve the mystery of Polaris University's vanishment and return balance and higher education to their world. It's going to be very difficult and very, very rude. Whether you are a longtime lover of the series or a newbie to Cordelia, this tale is definitely one you won't want to miss. Subscribe to Rude Tales of Magic on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, that's my preferred podcatcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday.
[theme]
Eric: Back in the auditorium, Miss Rita says—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Connor, do you have any advice for the freshmen, just right off the bat, anything you can think of?
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, of course, yeah. I think the most—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Limit it into two bullet points, please.
Brandon (as Connor): Great. Yes, thank you for that restriction. I work better with— in a sandbox. I think the most important thing, folks, friends, is that you open your ears and your hearts to the information that we're going to give you. Really soak it in.
Eric: Oh, my God, you're so— that's so gross.
Brandon: And then the camera flips to the audience and you see a freshman who's a sponge—
Eric: Write— writing down everything so furiously.
Amanda: Oh.
Brandon: And Connor goes back and sits down next to Craft.
Julia: And Craft gives a big high five. He's like—
Brandon (as Connor): High five.
Julia (as Craft): Nice.
Brandon: And the legs of the chair bow out.
Eric: Oh, you have— you know it, buddy. You know it.
Eric (as Miss Rita): And finally, we have our last member of the team. I should— I hope that she had enough time to come up with the answers that she's gonna say. It's gonna be great. Rowan, why don't you come on out?
Amanda: And from behind the curtain, separating the stage from the wings of the stage, after the big silhouettes that came out, one after another, you could almost be forgiven by, like, not noticing the person that walks out. But out walks a young woman with very curly hair tied back in a very tight bun. She's wearing some, like, close fitting suit pants, a white T-shirt, a type of blazer, sport coat, and you can see poking out of the cuffs of her sleeves, tattoos on one of her hands.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: And she gives a little wave, adjusts her horn-rimmed glasses, and says—
Amanda (as Rowan Miriam Rosen): Hello, I'm Rowan. Most of the time, you'll know me as Gravitas. My team calls me Row.
Eric: Rowan Gravitas Rosen, our only superhero name out of the three, which I think is awesome.
Julia: Craft leans over to Connor's like—
Julia (as Craft): Did we discuss blazers? And I totally forgot about it?
Brandon (as Connor): No, no, no. Don't worry. I honestly, I found this one at the back of my closet. I— it doesn't fit.
Julia (as Craft): Yeah, it fits great.
Brandon (as Connor): Okay, cool.
Julia (as Craft): You look awesome.
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you.
Eric: Amanda, why don't you introduce Rowan by telling us about their playbook?
Amanda: Yes. Rowan is the Nova. This playbook is described as your font of power, channel it, and you can remake the world into exactly what you want. Unleash it, and you can do miracles.
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: It's wonderful and terrifying. Lose control for even a second, and other people can get hurt.
Julia: Fuck yeah, dude.
Brandon: Fuck yeah.
Eric: Let's talk about your incredibly powerful abilities. What can Rowan do?
Amanda: Oh, just manipulate gravity.
Julia: Oh.
Amanda: It's very contained. It's very just—
Julia: Totally normal.
Amanda: —situational. Yeah. Rowan can control gravity, can attract mass, can turn up and down the forces attracting molecules to each other—
Brandon: That's cool.
Amanda: —as small as, I don't know, your bloodstream, or as big as maybe some huge boulders.
Brandon: Now, Amanda, do you subscribe to the idea of gravitons as like particles, or are we talking you bend space-time around mass?
Amanda: Rowan would prefer not to really get into how big that power could go, but fundamentally, everything is attracted to everything. There are weak bonds of gravity between every electron, every molecule, every cell—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: —in the universe.
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: And Rowan knows about every single one all of the time.
Brandon: Hell yeah, dude.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Eric: This I want to underscore for the Nova, Rowan being so incredibly powerful, the main thing that the Nova has is called Burn. Most of the other playbooks just have, like, specific playbook moves. Well, instead, the Nova has something called Burn, where you charge up your powers and then you can do specifically insane things.
Brandon: Ooh.
Eric: So can you talk about some of the things you can do?
Amanda: Oh, my God, of course. So the first is reality storm, channeling a destructive burst of my powers. I cause unwanted collateral damage, unless I spend another burn to contain that burst of power.
Brandon: Fuck.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: I also have something called moat, where I can create a barrier that can hold back threats if I keep my attention on it. I'm imagining this as, like, a literal physical moat in, like, the earth that I can rip up, or maybe just a vacuum where oxygen can't travel, and therefore, neither sounds nor fire. I have something called worship. I can put on a tremendous display of my might and awe an audience into silence, respect and attention when I unleash my powers.
Brandon: That's so cool.
Amanda: My favorite, though, is constructs. I can create any object with my powers up to the size of a person.
Julia: Yo.
Brandon: What?
Amanda: And animate it independently of myself.
Julia: Yo.
Brandon: Holy shit.
Amanda: Yep.
Brandon: That's so cool.
Julia: That crazy.
Eric: It's so scary. So, hey, why don't we talk about it? Let's get into some of Rowan's backstory. When did Rowan first use her powers?
Amanda: Rowan is a child of the Lower East Side. She grew up in an old tenement in a rent-regulated like nine room Warren of an apartment that, you know, 30 people used to live in in the 1920s. Her parents are both professors, one of physics, ironically enough, and one of art. And she just spent her childhood, like, popping around all over the Lower East Side, going to museums and parks and making friends with the pigeon lady outside and the dim sum vendor that she preferred. Until she started volunteering at a synagogue, where one day she was there cleaning up a basement, going through some archives, going through some photos, and something about being in a basement, three or four stories under Manhattan with an exposed bedrock of the island of the Earth.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: Triggered something in her, and she was maybe, like, 10 or 11, and suddenly, the entire building started shaking. And the damage to the foundation was so severe that they ended up having to close it for years to raise money to reinforce the foundation, to make the building habitable again.
Eric: The next question is, who was the first person who accidentally hurt with the— with your powers? I assume some stuff fell on some people.
Amanda: Some stuff definitely fell on some people and the, like, young, cool Rabbi, who was really nice to her, actually broke his leg—
Brandon: Aw.
Amanda: —because he was on the stairs and fell over the banister when the building started shaking.
Brandon: Aw.
Julia: Aw.
Amanda: He was really nice about it, and she's never forgiven herself.
Eric: So who outside the team helps you control your powers/why are you at Water's Edge Academy?
Amanda: So as soon as she possibly could, Rowan lied to her parents, said she wanted to go to a Jewish High School and move upstate. And the person who helped her do that was that same rabbi who she injured, and he helped, because he has a powered sister, helped her to go to Water's Edge, and she has not been home in three years.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Damn.
Eric: I think principal Wordsmith got the letter of recommendation from a rabbi, and it was like—
Eric (as Wordsmith): This is the first time clergy has recommended students.
Julia: Clergy recommended students.
Eric: You see— yeah, there's like, images of a rabbi, a priest, an imam, like a witch, all just, like, illustrating his points.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: He's like—
Eric (as Wordsmith): We usually don't admit students until they are seventh grade or older. Why should we let you in, Rowan?
Amanda (as Rowan): I am quite small and don't eat much food. I can be really helpful if there's any landscaping challenges, like to move a boulder, or maybe you want to make like a raised bed somewhere. I volunteered at the garden back at home and I'd be happy to help. Also, I'm fairly certain that without your input, I might fundamentally change some of the physics of the universe. So I just kind of think that for everyone's safety, this would be a good call. I saved $200 from volunteering at the Y.
Julia: I love this 11-year-old being like, "I might fundamentally change the universe."
Eric: In Principal Wordsmith office, there is a dais with a very large, old leather bound book on it. And while Rowan is speaking, it opens itself up and flips the pages. And Principal Wordsmith looks back and says—
Eric (as Wordsmith): Good enough. Okay.
Brandon: Now, is Wordsmith making these words above him in fiction or is this in the page on the comic?
Eric: Oh, no. Great question. Principal Wordsmith can conjure objects from his words. They literally exist in the reality of our story.
Brandon: Cool.
Julia: That's so cool.
Eric: I mean, Principal Wordsmith says this. I didn't mean to pull over the middle of Rowan’s backstory to talk about Wordsmith’s backstory.
Julia: No, no. Yeah, no. So cool.
Eric: —Wordsmith. But Wordsmith's book is the Libro de Libereco, an ancient tome about wielding the power of words! It was written by Lango Tordillo, a poet-king from a forgotten civilization destroyed by other people for how utopic It was. Now, using this book, Wordsmith fights for justice, goodness, and making the world a better place, also, while giving students a good education. And he studied and read the book and understands it backwards and forwards. And by giving it the proper emphasis, you can make it do whatever you want.
Julia: That's cool.
Brandon: Cool. That's awesome.
Eric: But, of course, you can't see he— that's why he has the full helmet mask and just the domino eyes—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —so that you don't see what his mouth is doing.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Cool.
Eric: And he wears dark blue in honor of the dark blue ink written in the book.
Brandon: Love it.
Julia: That's so cool. Hey, listeners at home, might I recommend having a DM who has a master's in English. It's so important.
Eric: Pew, pew, pew, pew. Critical literacy, symbolism. Pew, pew, pew, pew.
Julia: Pew, pew, pew.
Amanda: Can I try? Can I try?
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Symbolism! Feels great. It feels great. Yeah.
Eric: Then you see Dr. TJ Eckleburg's glasses just hanging out, his eyes following us for the rest of the recording. Final question here, why do you continue to use your powers?
Amanda: This all has to be for something.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: And Rowan has considered what would be safest for the world, and has concluded that anyone with this kind of power must be needed at some point in the future. And she doesn't know why, and she doesn't know where, but all she can do is try to be helpful and ready for when that time comes. So she has a lot of things that she does to keep herself ordered and calm, and disciplined and prepared. Down her left arm, she has a tattoo of tefillin, the prayer— I think you described American previous campaigns.
Eric: Yeah. It's a box with a leather strap on it that you put on—
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —one arm and you put it on your head. There's Jewish symbolism reasons in it. There's, like, prayer inside of the box. That's where Gary Gygax stole the idea of lich's phylactery. But the specifically— so it's like black, like, almost ziggurat-esque box and there's a black— and a long leather, black strap that you wrap around your arms.
Amanda: Seven times.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Down to the middle finger on her left hands, the tattoo goes all the way down from the inside of her bicep, where the box is tattooed, all the way down to her finger. She has tzitzit, the prayer strings, tattooed on her hips. And it is pretty metal for a 17-year-old to have tattoos like that. But that makes her skin marked, and she always wears something that looks alternately appropriate in, like, a lawyer's office, maybe even a funeral home, because it's important that, you know, she takes herself seriously.
Julia: Cool.
Eric: All right. So Miss Rita says—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay. So let's get started before we get going to do's and do not's about our school, I want to talk to the three of you about being grouped together in a club team. Now, club teams for all the freshmen out there, they're— the school decides if there are three or four students that would work really well together. We try to group all of you during these first few weeks, so freshman week into the first weeks of school. And I remember when we identified the three of you during your entrance exam being able to work well together. So can you— I— listen, these— they just did their entrance exam a few months ago. What was it like for you?
Eric: I would like to describe the entrance exam.
Brandon: Hmm.
Eric: In my head, it is a battle royale in a floating coliseum above the school—
Brandon: Oh, shit.
Eric: —made of ruin and clouds. It is not necessarily— you're not always all fighting each other. You usually— there might be like matches for one round, or there might be, like, against a large boss, or there's just, like, an environmental activity all of you have to do. Maybe you're put into groups and have to achieve something. Like, put ball in hoop over tons of spikes, you know what I mean?
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: So I would love it if each of you could tell me one activity that was in your year's entrance exam, and then we will talk about some of our tea— the team coming together questions which are on your character sheets. So first, give me some challenges that were in your year's entering this exam.
Amanda: Ro was pretty surprised at how non-violent the challenge was that she was thrown into, which was just to move about 51 ton boulders from one side of the arena to the other, and you can do it any way you wanted, using your powers or not. And so she hung back. I think people didn't really see her. She's, like, five-two. And she— once everyone else was done and they'd spent most of the allotted time, you've only got 30 minutes, moving a couple of boulders together, she concentrated, looked down, clasped her hands together, and shifted the entire pile, just rolling subtly and slowly across the floor of the arena to complete silence.
Brandon: That's fucking cool.
Julia: That's cool as fuck.
Eric: For the whole time, I think you're doing this, even if you're not in these heats together, you're all watching each other—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —all do this. So every single prospective student for your year, going into your freshman year, would have seen everything you're all describing.
Amanda: Yep.
Julia: I think Craft's— or at this point, it's Shelley. I think Shelley's entire thing is like a simulated rescue mission sort of thing.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: Like a— here's an apartment building, it's quote-unquote, "on fire," you have to find the five people inside and get them out safely.
Eric: I love that. How'd Shelley do with that one?
Julia: Couple limbs lost.
Eric: Yours or theirs?
Julia: Mine.
Amanda: Oh.
Julia: But for the most part, pretty good. A little singed hair at one point, but otherwise, managed to get a lot of people out. I don't think maybe the last person— I don't know if they were working in teams or not, but I think she might have left the last person to someone else—
Eric: Sure.
Julia: —and regretted it because they didn't manage to get that person out.
Brandon: Oh.
Eric: That's such like SAT -esque logic—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —that Emily Slaughter definitely hid into your brain. Like, if you can't do it, don't do it. Just get your credit. It's better to just do four out of five than fail on the fifth one.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: That is like such test prep-esque thinking.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: And I think also the sort of logic behind putting Shelley in that particular challenge was to see how good her— like protective—
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: —and desire to save other people as it was.
Eric: Oh, you know they did that shit intentionally, a 100%.
Julia: Oh, yeah, a 100%.
Eric: A 100%.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: And, like, Shelley put her whole ass into that challenge, by the way. Like she really, really, really tried.
Amanda: Oh, did you lose an ass cheek, too?
Julia: No. It's not sewed on.
Eric: Brandon, what about you?
Brandon: I think there's a version of the Kobayashi Maru from Star Trek.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: Hmm. Hmm. Say it again.
Brandon: Which is famously a no win scenario, where the real test is to see just how the students deal with, one , losing.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: And to deal with the, like, aftermath of it. So the real test is like, after the simulation ends, what they do next.
Eric: Ooh, Brandon, can I give a suggestion?
Brandon: Yes.
Eric: I think similar to what Julia's was, this was a real— like a in fake Lake Town City, there was like, "Oh, there's a robbery." But then, like, there's no way to beat the regular robbers. They always have something to defeat you that are specifically calibrated to the students who are doing this thing.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Like, you know, if someone has magnetic powers, all the guns that the robbers are using are plastic and stuff like that.
Brandon: Right.
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly. I was gonna say the same thing. I don't know they have technology to, like, turn off someone's power, but they definitely, exactly what you're saying, tune the exercise to the powers.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah. Maybe for this one in particular, it was like him and, yeah, someone with electricity— or magnetism powers and someone with, you know—
Eric: Fire powers, they turn on the sprinklers. Like just immediate—
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Just like immediate— the only reason why I suggested it like that is like it's so— it seems so easy on its face and they immediately—
Brandon: Right.
Eric: —shut down all of these 13, 14-year-olds.
Brandon: Right, exactly. And so on the face of it, the students think the challenge is like, here's what it's like to be a normal human trying to solve these problems without your powers.
Eric: Hmm.
Brandon: And that's the sort of, like, moral or the detest. But the real thing is that, like— is at the end of it, once the simulation ends, how do they deal with each other and what do they say to each other? A lot of teams will get mad at each other, get angry and, like, stomp off. Some teams will just like mope. But the thing that really distinguished Connor is that, obviously, he was able to bring the team back together and bring their spirits back up, and get them to work even better as a team on the next challenge.
Eric: A few weeks later, when you were all freshmen, they pulled you into the principal's office, and there was a slightly younger versions of Miss Rita and Principal Wordsmith, and they're like—
Eric (as Wordsmith): Good news. You're a team!
Julia (as Shelley): Oh.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh. Hell yeah.
Eric (as Wordsmith): We identified ways that you were together.
Brandon (as Connor): I'm so excited. It's so nice to meet you both.
Amanda (as Rowan): How will uniforms work? Because we're such different sizes.
Eric: Cut to the next panel. I would like to ask some questions that are on your character sheets. The last question for each of your backstory that I would love for you all to answer is, why do you care about the team?
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Rowan cares about the team, because showing students that other students trust her, like her, and want to hang out with her make her seem fractionally less scary. And showing up for her teammates is something that she can do while sort of waiting for her bigger purpose to show up.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. I think for Shelley at first, and then definitely now Craft later, it was just this idea of, "Oh, there are people that don't mind spending time with me." And so I immediately kind of latched on to that and it's like, "I can use this. This is great for me. I actually love this."
Brandon: Yeah. Connor has a little bit of, for lack of a better word, like rose-colored glasses about people, and especially the people close to him and on his team. He sees whether or not this is actually true, especially, you know, with the Scion situation, but he sees both his teammates as extremely caring and wanting to help people, and he wants to help facilitate that.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: So, yeah, he sees the best in both of them. Kind of refuses to see any flaws or anything that goes against that.
Eric: For sure. I feel like after that first meeting, when Rowan and Shelley Craft leave the room, Miss Rita says—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Connor, can you stay here for a second?
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah, sure.
Eric (as Miss Rita): You know, Connor, you did such a good job in your—
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you. Yeah.
Eric (as Miss Rita): —entrance exam, and your aunt has such high— has such wonderful things to say about you. And we trust—
Brandon (as Connor): She's kind.
Eric (as Miss Rita): We trust what Anita Tigre says, and we know she has a wonderful eye for this. I would just—
Brandon (as Connor): That's what it says on her badge at work.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Says it on her mugs, too. Listen—
Brandon (as Connor): Uh-hmm.
Eric (as Miss Rita): —we just— can you just, like, keep an eye on these two?
Brandon (as Connor): What do you mean?
Eric (as Miss Rita): You know, both of them are having a— kind of a hard time adjusting to this life, and there's a lot going on here, and you did such a good job adjusting yourself. So just keep an eye and an ear out for Rowan and for Shelley. If they ever need anything, you know, just use your ears and use your heart to figure out if they need anything, okay? And just like, you know, if you ever have a question of what to do with the two of them, you can always come to me, and I can help you out. I'd love to know just, like, how things are going with the team. Like, we can check in every month or something.
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you for that and thank you for that offer. I think it's really kind, compassionate. I think what's most important at a team center, especially a new team like this, is that I do everything I can to build the trust between us, and so I can't let anything spoken or not really get in between the trust building for now.
Eric (as Miss Rita): I understand.
Brandon (as Connor): So I appreciate that, and I obviously will come to you if something is wrong or someone needs help, you know, sort of therapist rules. Of course.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Yeah, of course.
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah.
Eric (as Miss Rita): I mean, you know, I'm also— we're here to help you at the school, and—
Brandon (as Connor): Of course.
Eric (as Miss Rita): —with everything. So, you know, nothing weird. I'm not— we're not being weird about this. I was just asking you to keep an eye out, okay?
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, I'm not being weird, yeah. Of course. Yeah, yeah.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Nice. Thank you, Connor.
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you. Can I have one of these candies?
Brandon (as Connor):Yeah, of course.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Thank you. This is the closest any Join the Party scene has ever gotten to Brandon at work.
Julia: Also, like, Connor being the glue that keeps our team together, I am in love with.
Amanda: Incredible.
Brandon: And the glue that keeps your ass on.
Julia: Yeah. It keeps falling off.
Eric: So let's talk about relationships and influence. So each of you have prompts that you need to fill in with one of your teammates, to figure out what your relationship has been since the team's come together over the last few years at Water's Edge Academy, and then we're going to assign some influence, which is a big game mechanic here in Masks.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Eric: So let's do it in the same order. Julia, why don't you do these questions for Shelley Craft?
Julia: Yeah. So are these relationships that I'm filling in have to be for Amanda and Brandon's characters?
Eric: Yes, yes.
Julia: Yes? Okay, cool. Well, I think actually this works great. So I'm gonna do my second one first actually, because it's— my parent once fought and thrashed blank. I've gotta find a way to make it up to them.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: And the fact that Brandon so beautifully already incorporated that into Dr. Prometheus being the reason that he transformed—
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: —that has to be Connor.
Eric: I was gonna ask, I wonder if you all discuss the fact that Connor got transformed because of Prometheus tech. And it sounds like maybe over winter break is junior year, y'all figure that shit out.
Julia: Junior year, yeah, we're going more into Craft than Shelley at that point in junior year. I think Craft is like—
Julia (as Craft): All right, Connor. I— like, it's been two years, I gotta ask—
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah.
Julia (as Craft): —how and why?
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you for waiting so long and being respectful. Ultimately, I don't think it matters, and I think you know that, and I think you feel that, but I do need to admit that one of my old friends broke into your dad's lab.
Julia (as Craft): Oh, yeah. Was it the one with all the lasers?
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah, it was that one.
Julia (as Craft): He had a lot of lasers.
Brandon (as Connor): Yeah.
Julia (as Craft): Like, there was just a whole factory of lasers.
Eric: This feels like a Shane Black movie. So, like, over Christmas, you go and— the— both of you with Rowan, because Rowan's not doing anything. The Hanukkah was three weeks earlier. You guys, like, go and try to kick Dr. Prometheus' ass and he's controlling the weather because it's so snowy.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: So instead, we go to that factory and we destroy all the places. That was the best Christmas Lake Town City ever had, if we're being honest.
Brandon: And then the end credit scene is us eating ice cream cones at a table, not talking.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Hell yeah.
Eric: In the snow.
Amanda: Full blizzard.
Eric: In the snow, yeah.
Julia: In the snowstorm, yeah.
Brandon: What was the thing you're— you're fill-in-the blank, Julia?
Julia: My parent once fought and thrashed, Connor. I've got to find a way to make it up to them.
Brandon: Got it.
Julia: And part of that was the destroying of the factory of lasers, but I think also Shelley is just always trying to hype you up now.
Brandon: Thank you.
Julia: Like, Craft is so like—
Julia (as Craft): You're the coolest person. You deserve all the straight A's.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, stop. Stop.
Julia (as Craft): You're just so good at what you do and I just— I appreciate you.
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you, thank you.
Amanda (as Rowan): Seeing your kidneys, through your back. Fucking metal. Love it.
Brandon (as Connor): If you ever need a kidney, let me know. I got two of them.
Amanda (as Rowan): Oh.
Julia (as Craft): I super don't.
Brandon (as Connor): Okay.
Julia (as Craft): They just come back.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, great.
Julia (as Craft): Every time someone gets rid of them, they just come back.
Brandon (as Connor): That's really nice.
Julia (as Craft): Yeah.
Eric: Wait, so what's the other one, Julia?
Julia: Oh, so my other one is—
Eric: Yeah, what's going on with your other kidney? What's up?
Julia: I was like, "What about my other kidney?" My other one is— and this was going to be Rowan. Rowan is the only one who understands what I'm going through. I told them which part of me I wished was more like my parent.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: What part of you do you wish was more like your parent?
Julia: I think this also can be an interesting catalyst in the burnout of Shelley into Craft.
Eric: Yes, so this is important. The Scion specifically has to be worked so hard to be as good of a hero as their villain parent is a villain.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: But Shelley, now Craft, is an absolute burnout, tell us about that.
Julia: And I think part of it is there was a lot of pressure from Emily Slaughter for the first two years—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: —being at the school, because she had staked her name onto mine in, like, recommending me at the school. So, like, her reputation is on the line in terms of how Shelley is doing.
Eric: There's a lot of like, object lessons of saying, "My parents are— I'm an orphan. My sibling's soul is in this sword." Blah, blah, blah. You— the least you could do is do well on your chemistry test.
Amanda: Wow.
Julia: And I think that there was a real like moment where Shelley really broke down and was like, "It would just be nice to not care what other people think the way that Dr. Prometheus does."
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Junior year, baby. Taking the SATs, worried about your rankings. It's absolutely wild.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So I like that, like, now you're full— you're embracing your burnout here in the beginning of senior year.
Julia: It's a lot of like Craft now having a really in depth conversation with someone, and then pausing and being like, "I'm sorry, I'm really high right now."
Eric: Incredible. Connor, let's hear your questions, buddy.
Brandon: Yeah. So mine are blank comforted you when you were at your lowest and blank knew you before you changed. So I think based on what we've just talked about, it has to be that Rowan knew me before I changed.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: And my thought is that— and I was just thinking about this earlier. It's like, I think Connor— as part of his studies is really trying to learn about, one, learn a bunch of different languages so he can speak them to people who don't speak English. And two, probably learn just more about religions and so he can know without having to ask about people's belief systems. So I'm sure at some point he visited the synagogue.
Eric: I love Connor learning Yiddish.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Being like, "Hey, man, what if we get all messed up and we're in a place for some reason where everyone still speaks Yiddish?"
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: In emergency rations, what combinations of foods do I need so that everybody can eat something?
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
Brandon: I want to make that distinction. It's like, it's not that he's, like, efficient and organized, and like, prepared for everything.
Amanda: Hmm.
Brandon: It's that he's emotionally the peacemaker.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Yes.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Like he would not be the one to get everyone the correct amount of supplies or whatever.
Julia: Gotcha.
Brandon: He would make that mistake, but—
Amanda: Okay, good.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: But yeah, so I think he definitely visits the synagogue, whether that be— or maybe a combination, to learn more about the religion, but also maybe, you know, one of his friends went there and, you know, he went to a youth group night or something. I don't know.
Amanda: Hebrew 101.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly.
Eric: In New York City, too, like it's—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: —still a treat for LTC kids— and the suburbs of LTC to go to New York City, so— for sure.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly.
Amanda: Cool.
Brandon: So that's that one. And then, yeah, I think Craft comforted me when you were— when I was at my lowest. I'm imagining that nights— late nights are pretty hard for Connor, just in general. And so I'm sure there was a really stressful week of freshman orientation where, like, yeah, you're doing the exams, and you're studying and all that stuff, and everything sort of kind of gets to you. And I'm sure one night after maybe, like, a training session or something, late Craft is like, you know, "Let's go back and smoke." And Connor doesn't smoke, but he hung out.
Julia: Craft goes—
Julia (as Craft): Okay, you don't smoke. Do you want a little gummy, though? Would that be good?
Eric: I love all of this being, like, junior year comforting each other, because junior year—
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: —sucks so much.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Exactly, yeah.
Julia (as Craft): I got mushrooms. You want a microdose? Like what's—
Eric: I need to emphasize to all, probably non-American and Canadian listeners that, like, junior year is the single most stressful thing that happens to humans outside of childbirth.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: It is like— it is so stupid that we make 16 and 17-year-olds maintain their entire social lives in regular school, but make it the hardest year of school and make them apply to college.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: And do the SATs.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: It's terrible. It is the worst.
Amanda: It's like every A level, every standardized test, every university application and prep, all in the same, like, four months.
Brandon: And there's no help for any of it.
Eric: No.
Amanda: No help for any of it.
Julia: No.
Eric: No.
Amanda: And you need to learn to drive. It's a lot.
Julia: It's a lot.
Eric: And there's junior prom.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: And Connor is like—
Brandon (as Connor): Thank you. A microdose for me would be, like, more mushrooms than you have in your apartment. So, like, I'm just gonna have this, like, Tabouli that I brought, if that's cool.
Julia (as Craft): Okay.
Amanda: Connor is definitely into world cuisine.
Julia (as Craft): Sure.
Brandon: But, yeah, I think as the evening gets later and later, at some point, he just starts, like, breaking down because he's thinking about the stress and—
Julia: I think Craft just, like, takes the book out of your hand, is like—
Julia (as Craft): Absolutely, we're done with this. We're— this is not happening anymore. And we're gonna go to sleep, so we have serotonin in the morning.
Eric: Yes. The tabouli gives him a piece of pizza.
Brandon: Yeah. And he obviously confesses all the stress with his parents and stuff, and all the difficulties that it actually is to be transparent.
Eric: Hmm.
Julia: Yeah. And Craft's like—
Julia (as Craft): My dad's in jail so, like, you know, I get it.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, it's perspective. It's perspective.
Julia (as Craft): Yeah, he doesn't talk to me, but for different reasons.
Eric: "He sends me robots to say weird-coded messages to me, and thinks I know Morse code, I don't."
Julia (as Craft): So if you see a drone, just tell me.
Eric: There's like— there's a drone holding an umbrella that's doing Morse code at you out the window.
Julia: And Craft just points at it and electricity shoots it out of the sky.
Amanda: Amazing.
Brandon: And then they have a really nice hug and Craft's arm pops off.
Julia: Yeah. They don't come off that easily.
Eric: But if Connor pulls them off, maybe, maybe.
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Amanda: Yeah. That was a big hug from Connor.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: All right, Rowan. What are your relationships?
Amanda: My first one is I hang out all the time with Craft to blow off steam. I think similar to yours, Julia, Craft and Rowan both understand how necessary it is for other people to approve of them and to show that they are people that other people hang out with.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: In a way that Connor just doesn't get, because he is so earnestly, like, here for the team, and like, why wouldn't someone love my teammates?
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: I think Rowan also doesn't smoke, but loves to hang out with you and finds the smell comforting.
Julia: Hell yeah. It's like one of those things where, like, you're around someone for long enough, where you're like, "That's their smell."
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: "And that makes me happy."
Eric: Yeah, real.
Julia: You know?
Amanda: Exactly.
Brandon: I did also— I was thinking earlier that maybe Connor is, like, your sort of drug sniffing dog, but the opposite way, where, like, he can be like, "That's bad. That's bad. That's the good stuff. That's bad."
Amanda: Ooh.
Julia: That strain is sick.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: And take you to— whatever I go to pick up stuff from the dispensary.
Amanda: Amazing. And then secondly, I once hurt Connor when I lost control of my powers.
Brandon: No.
Amanda: I think we were in a real situation, and Rowan wasn't sure how to act, and sort of waited too long.
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: And so Connor was like, "No, no. Do it, do it. Try, try, try." And she ended up, like, crushing him, or—
Eric: Oh, wait, was that you of why the dorm building is cracked off from the rest of the island?
Brandon: Ooh.
Amanda: So— yeah. And she's very upset that she did it twice, but specifically, Connor was trying to help her calm down. And I think for an instant, the focus of her attention, she withdrew it from the building and from the island and from the crack in the foundation. And for a second, really, like, vibrated the jelly of one of Connor's, like fingers or toes, to the extent that it, like, has some nerve damage that maybe—
Brandon: Hmm.
Amanda: —you're still not being honest with her about.
Brandon: Hmm. Uh-hmm.
Julia: Hmm.
Brandon: I like that. I mean, also, it's, you know, it's hard to see where I am exactly, so I'm sure, you know, I don't know how you direct your powers, but—
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Also, more than welcome for y'all to get into a scrap with people who don't like you in the dorms while this was happening, for sure.
Brandon: Oh, we will.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: You can all have your own mental breakdowns, you're teenagers, you're allowed. But, like, also, I'm sure there are fights, and there's a whole thing at Water's Edge Academy that you all need to figure out your own problems.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: That is not what the teachers and staff are there for. They're to teach you and not to do conflict resolution. So there are plenty of fights that go on between students.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah, no. I know we're skipping the when our team first came together… but mine is someone important learned about my lineage and condemned us all. And I think that maybe there's like a rival club or clique—
Eric: I'm sure.
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: —in the dorms, that maybe it's like the child of a very famous super or something like that.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Who is like, "Well, you're all, you know, with Shelley, and therefore, you guys all must be evil or something like that."
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: And in that fight, Julia, when our team first came together, you destroyed our surroundings in a fight, where was it and what did we destroy? It was in the dorm, and now there's—
Eric: There we go.
Amanda: —a permanent fissure—
Julia: There we go.
Amanda: —in the foundation.
Eric: I like that. What was yours, Brandon? There's a question that we weren't going to do, but now we can totally do it, because we're really good—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —at this and we could just integrate things really.
Julia: Fuck yeah.
Eric: What was your question of when our team first came together?
Brandon: Uh-hmm. It's— we drew attention and ire from plenty during the fight. One important person in particular now hates and fears us. Who is it?
Eric: Hmm.
Amanda: Is it the groundskeeper?
Eric: Oh, you mean Harvey Withers?
Brandon: Oh.
Julia: I forgot he was a PI.
Brandon: Harvey Withers. I don't want to be on his bad side. Oh, man.
Julia: Oh, no.
Eric: You mess— you— y'all mess stuff up in the dorms.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah, that's fair.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And you crack the dorms off of the island.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Or it could be like the head of the parental liaison Board, who does fundraising, and is like, "I just fucking did this one. We just raised money to refurbish the dorms. What do you mean?"
Julia: One PTA mom really hates us.
Eric: Imagine— like the PTA has to be only the parents of students who live in Jupiter.
Julia: Yes, yeah.
Eric: Like, that's so nefarious.
Julia: Yes, yeah.
Eric: Like, such a loud minority for no reason.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: I'm picturing a very—
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: —like, board of directors. They take this very seriously. It's like a huge deal in the community, like very high social status parents.
Julia: Heather Banks, that's her name.
Eric: While you're all talking about this, and I think that you're just having a large— a discussion of what it means to work together as a team, why sometimes they put some students together officially and some students find their own way. It's whatever works. A student raises their hand and says—
Eric (as Freshman #4): This isn't related to what you were talking about, but my dad told me to ask and I need to. Is Harvey Withers still there and is he still in the big chair? I don't know who that is or what the big chair is.
Julia: Craft just gets, like— starts like, smirking like—
Julia (as Craft): Yeah, he's still there.
Eric: And we have a bunch of panels at, like, oblong angles going through the hallways of Water's Edge Academy, and sitting outside of the teachers' lounge in a big chair is a four-foot-six man, so much hair. Like, more, like, Wolverine-esque amount of hair and, like, big bushy sideburns.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And he's wearing— he looks like Dick Tracy.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: He's just wearing, like, the overcoat and the hat, and the rumpled suit underneath.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: But he's sitting comfortably in this big chair because his legs and arms are extended by glittering astral appendages—
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: That of— that reach in all directions.
Brandon: Cool.
Eric: Harvey Withers is the groundskeeper of Water's Edge Academy, because he can astral project anywhere at any time. So he never needs to leave his chair.
Brandon: Fuck yeah, man.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Row is sitting at, like, the very edge of one of the chairs on the stage, like a pianist posture. Her back is not touching the back of the chair at all. And she leans forward from there to almost like a 45-degree angle, makes eye contact with the kid, and goes—
Amanda (as Rowan): Don't think no one is ever watching.
Julia: Yep. Craft goes—
Julia (as Craft): Yo, that's deep.
Eric: Miss Rita's like—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay, it's not like that, but Harvey is here to keep everyone safe, and he has the ability to do so. He knows where everything's going. You know, Row, we don't have to be so intense in front of the freshman.
Julia (as Craft): Nah, he's always watching.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay, let's move on. I have more questions.
Eric: Miss Rita pulls out— turned like a light blue and pulls out some note cards.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: Yeah. Let's talk about influence for a second. This is kind of a— the really interesting and important crunchy mechanic here in Masks. So influence is something that all characters, PCs and NPCs, can just have on each other to help dictate the very strange world of adults talking to teens, teens talking to teens, teens talking to adults, villa— heroes and villains, et cetera. When someone has influence over you, it means you care about what they do, say, or think. At any time, you can give influence to any character who doesn't have influence on you. All adults have influence over you when first introduced. So immediately from where we're starting now, Principal Wordsmith and Miss Rita have influence on the three of you.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: There are some introductory elements here to help dictate the influences that different people have on all three of you. And Julia, you have something specific. The Scion is something specific.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: So let's do the questions for Rowan and for Connor, and then we'll do Shelley Craft last.
Brandon: Great.
Eric: And using influence is basically— there's some bonuses. I can shift labels, which is the big thing that GMs can do. I can make you feel differently about yourself, so that is why adults can do that to you. And you can either accept that change or you can push back against it. So I'm already going to register for all of you that the two adults we've met so far start out the school year with influence on you.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Right.
Julia: Makes sense.
Eric: So let's— who wants to go first?
Amanda: I can go first. So for the Nova, it says, "Choose your demeanor, happy façade, or locked down. And as you might be able to tell from her fashion and vibe, Row is locked down. Therefore, I have to give influence to one teammate, and that is going to be Connor.
Julia: Nice.
Amanda: Row wants very much to maintain his trust and earn his esteem, and be a person that Connor thinks is a good person.
Julia: Aw.
Eric: So Connor has influence over Rowan and conversely, Rowan can be influenced by Connor. Think of it as an arrow that points in a direction.
Brandon: Great. So I have influence over Rowan right now?
Eric: Yes.
Amanda: Yes.
Brandon: Great. So I didn't realize because they're so different—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: —on these character sheet, which is fun. But mine says you try not to care what other people think, even if you can't shut everyone out, give influence to one teammate. So they're gonna have influence over me, correct?
Eric: Correct.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah, I mean, I think I gotta give it to Craft. I think he would never verbalize this, of course, but Craft being also physically different just reminds him every time he sees Craft, every time he see her, that he is also physically different. So—
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Uh-hmm.
Julia: That makes sense.
Eric: All right. Let's do this, Julia.
Julia: Well, mine for influence is this team may be the key to proving you're different from your parent, but you don't want to be defined by your peers, either. Give influence to two teammates.
Eric: Oh, there you go.
Julia: So don't get influenced over me.
Amanda: Hey.
Julia: And now I have to talk about respect, because this is a thing that I specifically have as the Scion, which is basically— it starts with write down the names of at least two other characters whose respect you need to earn in order to differentiate yourself from your parent. You may fill in new names whenever is appropriate.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Right now, the two names that I have on my list are the two NPCs that we've met so far, which is my parents' greatest enemy, which is Wordsmith.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: And my personal idol, which is Miss Rita.
Brandon: Hell yeah.
Julia: We'll talk why that is later, but—
Amanda: How often do you call her mom by mistake?
Julia: I don't want to talk about it.
Brandon: Only when you're really high.
Julia: Yes. So basically, it says, "When you seek out one of the characters named above, roll plus savior. On an eight, you find them where you expected to. On a seven to nine, they're juggling their own problems and may not have time for you. On a miss, when you find them, the situation is dire, and the GM will tell you how. But this is where the influence part comes in, which is, if you earn influence over the characters listed above, instead, you mark one respect. If you lose influence over the characters listed above, you lose one respect. If you lose one respect and you have none marked, you immediately mark a condition, GM's choice.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: You start feeling feelings and if you have— get four respects, you get bonuses.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: That's cool.
Amanda: Dang.
Julia: Yeah. Basically, I can either reject their influence at a plus three, or I can take plus one to a label of their choice. But if I dip below that plus four to respect again, I lose those benefits.
Eric: Very cool.
Julia: So I constantly kind of have to keep this level of respect among my superiors.
Amanda: Cool.
Eric: Yeah, it's very cool.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: I also like the idea— when you introduce this, I'm like, "I guess Wordsmith put Dr. Prometheus away, huh?"
Julia: Yeah, probably. Which is part of the reason why Craft likes him so much.
Eric: It's so funny that, like, Emily Slaughter took you away when Dr. Prometheus got put in the big villain prison.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I'll come up with a cool name for it, like Darkness Berg or whatever the fuck—
Brandon: You said cool, Eric
Eric: Yeah. Okay, yeah. Whatever. And, you know, I think he keeps showing up in Jupiter, because that's where you are, and then Wordsmith keeps putting him away when he escapes.
Amanda: Like, can the prison be called the cube?
Julia: Yeah, that's cool.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda" It's like a floating cube that's untethered from, like, gravity, electricity, like full vacuum around it, and it rotates every so often to, like, keep them on their toes.
Julia: It's just, like, floating at the top of one of the highest mountains in the Adirondacks.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Eric: Yeah, probably.
Brandon: That's cool.
Eric: That's true. That's cool. I like that.
Amanda: Okay.
Julia: That is cool.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. He's— so he— Dr. Prometheus keeps breaking out of the Cube and keeps coming back to Jupiter.
Julia: And Craft is like—
Julia (as Craft): Listen, Principal Wordsmith, no shade at all, but he keeps getting out. What's going on?
Eric (as Wordsmith): No shade intended, but shade delivered!
Amanda: I love him.
Brandon: An umbrella pops up.
Amanda: Like one of those retractable sun shades with a remote.
Eric: Miss Rita says—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay. So that's all my questions, and I'm all out of these note cards here. Does anyone— any of the freshmen have anything to say? Any questions?
Amanda: One student with incredibly evenly braided pigtails raises their hand extremely high in the air, like body out of the seat.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Yeah. You with the hand raised.
Amanda (as Freshman #1): Do you worry about the rankings?
Eric (as Miss Rita): Yeah. I guess we weren't gonna get to the end of this without talking about the rankings. Okay.
Eric: So we discussed this in the world-building. This is Eric speaking.
Brandon: Oh, hi, Eric.
Julia: Hi, Eric.
Eric: But—
Amanda: Hi.
Eric: Hi.
Amanda: Honey, is this so fun?
Eric: I'm having a really good time. I don't think outside, but maybe in the main area of, like, the main atrium of Water's Edge Academy, there is a big screen that has a running list of the rankings of students at Water's Edge Academy.
Julia: Hmm.
Eric: Now, Miss Rita would tell the freshmen not to worry, because they only start ranking starting in junior year.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: You get plenty of time. They have to gather data on you. They got to see how you work in different situations and compare your grades in freshman and sophomore year, because you don't get penalized in freshman year. It's like your growth from freshman to sophomore year, et cetera.
Brandon: It's also just too stressful for freshmen to handle. They wouldn't deal with that well.
Eric: But it's stressful enough for juniors, Brandon.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: No, but I mean, like, there were maybe incidents where freshmen did not do so well.
Eric: Yeah, they— oh, yeah. No, that's fair. They changed that in the late '90s, where they rated juniors and seniors only. But there is a running ranking of every single junior and senior compared to every other student enrolled at Water's Edge Academy. The rankings exist to have a quote-unquote, "objective metric" for people to understand each other that's calibrated through various algorithms from various smart, incredibly big brain mutants, maybe some alien tech in there. Also your GPA is definitely involved to determine the best students and also the worst students at Water's Edge Academy. This is important because lots of people want to hire Water's Edge Academy students directly into their programs or their companies, or even cities want to have a new resident superhero. And this is the best way to adjust, to kind of, like, understand the success metric of everyone depending— no matter what their powers are.
Brandon: Uh-huh.
Julia: And I also think that the rankings are part of the reason why Craft burned out as hard as she did in junior year, because I think she tried so hard, freshman—
Brandon: Hmm.
Julia: —and sophomore year, and then when the rankings came out, she wasn't in, like, the top 10 like she expected. And she said,
Oh, this doesn't matter. How hard I tried doesn't matter. Okay."
Eric: Yeah. I could see you as, like, 12 in the first week—
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: —of junior year.
Julia: And I got an aggressive email from Emily Slaughter after the fact.
Eric: Yeah, real, real, real. And in my head, if I— if you allow me to run admin— to be admin here.
Julia: Go ahead.
Eric: At that time when Shell—when junior year started, Shelley premiered at a 12 and Rowan is now at rank three. She started junior year at rank 52, but is slowly and surely ascended to third place at the beginning of senior year.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Eric: I discussed this with Brandon before, and I think that Connor— his entire career has never shifted away from number eight.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Amanda: Hmm.
Julia: Wow.
Eric: Connor has been eight for the entire time.
Amanda: Sold like a rock.
Eric: And Row— and Rowan just like— has started pretty high and only got higher. Shelley, where— what number you think you're at now, girl?
Julia: How many people are in the class?
Eric: I want to hear the numbering.
Julia: Because my thought is top bottom. You know what I mean?
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Like—
Amanda: I think they're 200 students in our grade.
Julia: Oh, then, 134.
Eric: Yeah, for sure. I think that's fair. So I think that— when that question gets asked, Miss Rita does the whole thing, like—
Eric (as Miss Rita): Don't worry about it. You're freshman." It's— and everything I described, she said, like, a guidance counselor.
Julia: Uh-hmm.
Brandon: Uh-hmm.
Eric: But then she turned to the three of you and gives you a look and says—
Eric (as Miss Rita): What do each of you think about the rankings? How much do you all worry about them? And be honest.
Julia: Shelley immediately goes—
Julia (as Craft): It doesn't fucking matter.
Brandon: Connor steps out of his chair in front of the crowd.
Julia (as Craft): It simply doesn't matter.
Eric: Her eyes changed so many different colors, like a poison dart frog trying to silence you.
Julia: And Shelley's, like, getting a little worked up like—
Julia (as Craft): What— like, why do we even let numbers dictate what our lives are going to be
Brandon (as Connor):Oh, it's fine. It's fine. Don't worry about it. I got it, Craft, It's cool.
Amanda (as Rowan): Shelly, no, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. Shelly, not now.
Brandon (as Connor): It's got a— it's great, it's good. Everything that Miss Rita said is correct.
Julia (as Craft): Hmm.
Brandon (as Connor): The important thing for you as freshmen and new incomers into this school is that you worry about yourselves, your well-being, you support each other as individuals and teammates. Don't even think about the rankings for now.
Julia: Shelley starts laughing, like scoffing in the background, it'd be like—
Julia (as Craft): [chuckles]
Brandon: And Connor kicks her in the—
Julia (as Craft): Ow.
Brandon: The chair shifts, like, three feet.
Julia (as Craft): Fuck.
Amanda (as Rowan): My ranking has no relationship to my self-worth, just to say.
Julia (as Craft): And neither does mine.
Amanda: We high fived. My hand is so small next to your hand.
Brandon: It's like a baby high fiving with an adult.
Julia: Yeah. I think, like, a very small girl with, like, curly purple hair, like very tentatively raises her hand, maybe in the third row or so. And she's like—
Julia (as Freshman #6): I heard that sometimes students powers change. Does that actually happen or—
Eric (as Miss Rita): We don't have a lot of time to go over some of the super-powered physiology here. But have you all heard that? Did that— has it happened in your experience?
Julia (as Craft): Yeah. Didn't that happen to Chad? Chad? Chad, like— he either, like, took a drug or he had sex. Did you hear about this?
Eric (as Miss Rita): Well, well—
Julia (as Craft): Row— Rowan, Rowan.
Amanda (as Rowan): I don't think I'm allowed to acknowledge that either of those things exist.
Brandon (as Connor): Everyone's sex exists and you will want—
Amanda (as Rowan): Connor, please don't.
Brandon (as Connor): You will want to have it.
Julia (as Craft): Yes, Connor.
Amanda (as Rowan): Please, please don't.
Julia (as Craft): Yes, Connor, tell them.
Brandon (as Connor): Just—
Amanda (as Rowan): Connor, if your powers change, go to the nurse. That's all you have to know. Go to the nurse. They will take care of you. It's a— it's just— you know, if there's an emergency, deal with it. But if there's an emergency, go to the nurse.
Brandon (as Connor): And if you're afraid of the nurse, come to me, because I'm less scary than the nurse.
Amanda (as Rowan): Yes, he's so strong. The nurse, not Connor.
Julia (as Craft): I will say, Connor also keeps— oh, I was gonna say Connor keeps a bowl of condoms in his dorm room if you ever need them.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Okay, I think there's more questions, there's more questions. There's more questions.
Brandon (as Freshman #6): Oh, yeah, I got one.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Yeah, please. A different question, please.
Brandon (as Freshman #6): Yeah. Is it weird having teachers who are villains? Like, are you scared of them?
Julia: Craft is oddly silent about that one.
Brandon (as Connor): Rowan, would you like to take this?
Amanda (as Rowan): I would say that no one is inherently good or bad, and it's really about what you do.
Brandon (as Connor): Beautiful answer.
Amanda (as Rowan): And so when people come to school to teach us about what we should do and how to be good supers, that is mostly a good thing, and it's important to decide for yourself what makes a good person and what makes a good super. So you got to learn from them all, and then you take it in yourself. And much like Connor, when he eats a pizza, you can see the pizza go from the mouth all the way down.
Brandon (as Connor): You can see that?
Amanda (as Rowan): Yes.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh, shit. Is it just pizza?
Amanda (as Rowan): Yep, the pepperonis really make it easy to see.
Julia (as Craft): It is super weird that it is only pizza for you, though.
Amanda (as Rowan): So no, it is not weird.
Julia (as Craft): But also, if a super villain teacher does try to recruit you for like a scheme or a plot, tell someone about that.
Brandon (as Connor): Don't do that. Yeah.
Amanda (as Rowan): Report it.
Julia (as Craft): Yeah.
Brandon (as Connor): I could not have said that any better than Rowan would have possibly said that. Thank you.
Eric (as Robot): I have a question.
Eric (as Miss Rita): Yeah.
Brandon (as Connor): Oh.
Julia (as Craft): Oh, sick robot.
Amanda (as Rowan): Oh, is that one, the frog? I couldn't see.
Eric (as Robot): I have a question. Do you think the freshmen are ready?
Brandon (as Connor): Are you including yourself in that or—
Eric (as Robot): No, for my freshman surprise.
Eric: And from the back, a robot like unfurls itself out of the seat it was sitting in and just, like, busts out, throwing freshmen in all directions, including some of the seats in the auditorium. And it just starts blasting. Let's fight a robot, shall we?
Brandon: Holy shit!
Amanda: Woo!
Julia: It's always a fucking robot.
[theme]