Live at the Table Audio - BFF at SHUX Live Show (+Quick Update!)
transcribed by thedreadbiter
[very quiet voices begin speaking]
JACK: We’re really good at this.
ALI: Yeah.
JACK: We’re really good at this.
ALI: We’re good at this.
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: [stage-whisper] Otherwise these people wouldn’t be here!
[ALI laughs]
This is my private pep talk!
[More laughs]
No one’s allowed to hear!
[ALI sighs]
JACK: Yeah, no one can hear the pep talk.
JANINE: It’s working.
ALI: Can I whi—can I do a practice [pretends to cry] [laughs]
[AUSTIN laughs]
JACK: How’s it going, Ali?
JANINE: How you doing?
ALI: I’m just practicing whining. [laughs]
JACK: Just practicing whining.
ALI: Yeah.
JANINE: You don’t want a peek of wine?
AUSTIN: Oh. Hello.
ALI: This is good. This is good. This is good. This is good, this is good, okay okay.
JANINE: [mumbling] Just so I—
AUSTIN: Yep. Yeah!
JANINE: [cross] That’s fantastic.
ART: [cross] This line they let you in the front of. That’s—yeah, okay.
ALI: [cross] Welcome~!
[ART laughs]
ALI: Welcome!
[Long pause]
[Loud clink at 00:58]
JANINE: Oh!
AUSTIN: That’s good to know.
JANINE: Not to hit the mic with it? Yeah!
AUSTIN: Yeah, don’t hit the mic!
JANINE: [cross] No! Uh-huh.
ALI: [away from mic] [cross] Do we need to figure out terms before we…
AUSTIN: No.
JANINE: Okay.
AUSTIN: Well.
JANINE: [cross] Cuz the camera will be on just so we can like, look, right?
ART: [cross] I can’t hear Austin at all.
ALI: Oh, okay. Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: Is that gonna be a thing?
JACK: [very quiet] We can’t hear you at all.
AUSTIN: What?
ART: I can’t hear you at all.
AUSTIN: [loud] You can’t hear me at all.
JACK: [distorted] We kind of can now, but like.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: And I’ll just talk like, here?
AUSTIN: We can just do this!
JACK: [cross] [shouting from far away] Yeah! What’s going on?
ALI: [cross] Okay. This is gonna be prime.
AUSTIN: [shouting] Hey! How’s it going?
ALI: [laughs very loudly with a huge echo] It’s so—I’m not allowed to laugh!
[Laughter]
[ALI sighs in amusement]
AUSTIN: We could also just do the like the [polite fake laugh] Oh ho ho ho ho!
JACK: [cross] Yeah yeah yeah.
ALI: [cross] Mm.
AUSTIN: Have to do the like—yeah.
JACK: The little—a little more re—monitor would be great.
ALI: Does anyone have a paper fan for me to use? With the feathers on it?
AUSTIN: What’s up?
ALI: A big paper fan with feathers on it [AUSTIN: Yeah!] to like “Ha ha ha ha ha!”
JACK: Yeah yeah yeah.
JANINE: You should go to that—they have the card game with the peacock cards, [JACK: Oh, yeah!] and they’re all arranged like a fan?
ALI: Hold on, everyone!
[Pause]
AUSTIN: Are we ready?
ALI: Are we?
AUSTIN: I don’t know!
ART: Wait, I thought we [ALI: Okay, yeah!] were looking [cross] at the monitors.
AUSTIN: [cross] Yeah, we’re just doin some tests.
JACK: I think they boo—I think we [AUSTIN: That’s fair.] took the monitor and they boosted us. I think we’re fine.
ALI: Well, hello.
AUSTIN: Great!…Where’d that pen go? Oh, there it is. I like that these look like pencils.
ALI: I think this is [???] [02:09] spill those.
JANINE: It’s so they don’t roll.
ALI: Mm-hm.
JACK: Yeah.
ART: Is Austin asking how a pen works?
JANINE: Well, they do roll, but they don’t normally—
AUSTIN: Yeah! [ALI laughs loudly] How does a pen work?
No, but how does it work?
[laughter]
ART: Gravity? Is it gravity??
AUSTIN: Is that it? Huh!
JANINE: It’s like gravity and pressure, probably.
AUSTIN: Probably?!
JANINE: It depends [ALI: Mm…] on the pen. If it’s a pen with a ball, then the ball rolls. If it’s a felt tip, then there’s the felt.
ALI: These are all felts.
JANINE: Okay.
JACK: [mock-scornful] You knew what you came for.
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: It is. That is—this is what we’re doing. This is the clapcast material.
JANINE: Does anyone have a kind of dog they wanna talk about?
ALI: Ooh!
AUSTIN: Did you see that one that was on Twitter today [laughs]?
ALI: Nay.
JANINE: No—
AUSTIN: The one dog on Twitter, today?
JANINE: The one dog on Twitter. Mm.
ALI: Yeah—what was Twitter’s voted dog today?
AUSTIN: It was the one that’s like barely—it looks—someone compared it to a Silent Hill monster?
ALI: [over audience laughter] Oh, perfect! Perfect! Perfect. Perfect.
JANINE: That’s so mean!
AUSTIN: Wh—no! It was like a compliment.
JACK: [cross] Is that a lizard?
JANINE: [cross] What?
AUSTIN: I’ll find it.
JANINE: Okay. All right, sure, I [cross] don’t need you to do that—
AUSTIN: [cross] Continue talking about other things.
JANINE: —[laughs] sure!
AUSTIN: [laughs] Yeah!
ALI: We’re streaming Silent Hill 2, right?
JANINE: Let’s look at the Silent Hill dog!
[ALI laughs]
JACK: Yeah. It’s more of a Silent Hill 2 stream.
[slyly] We only have one microphone.
ART: We’re sharing a mic.
[Pause]
AUSTIN: Dog.
JACK: Did you hear about that dog, Austin?
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: Silent Hill!
JANINE: Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
ALI: Oh, we’re good to go. We’re still googling a dog, so it’s gonna be a—
AUSTIN: Well, yeah. Give us a second, [ALI laughs] please. Very important, very important.
JANINE: This is the thing we do. This is us.
[ALI laughs quietly]
AUSTIN: I’m looking. Listen, there’s like—I can only work so fast.
JANINE: Yeah!
ALI: Okay. Yeah.
[3:44 - Camera starts working]
ART: It was nice of them to give us unlimited time here for this.
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: Yeah!
[3:49 - Camera cuts out again]
We’re very specific—we need a lotta time.
JANINE: Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
AUSTIN: I can’t—
ART: I hope none of y’all have dinner plans.
JANINE: Can’t find it?
AUSTIN: I can’t find this dog. Does anyone know the dog I’m talking about? No.
ALI: Wow!
JANINE: Shout out to Silent Hill dog.
ALI: I thought it was [cross] the number one dog!
AUSTIN: [cross] It was a good dog. [JANINE: Yeah.] It was a good dog.
ALI: Okay.
JANINE: I believe you.
ART: Austin, you’re allowed to give up on this.
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: It’s—it’s…I just—okay. I’m giving up! On the dog.
[4:10 - Camera starts working again]
JANINE: Find it—you know. Find…
AUSTIN: If I find it, I’ll add it in the show notes!
JANINE: Mm-hm!
[Audience member raises hand with phone]
AUSTIN: [excited] Do you have it?
[ALI laughs]
Ca—that’s the dog!
ALI: Oh!
AUSTIN: Can you message it to me on Discord [laughs]?
[Audience laughter]
Thank you, Lindsey.
JANINE: Sure. Yeah.
ALI: [laughs] Good. I’m glad. [cross] I’m glad this is happening.
JANINE: [cross] This is the only way [AUSTIN: Beautiful.] this could have started, Ali.
ART: I don’t think [ALI: Mm-hm.] that dog looks like a monster at all.
AUSTIN: You haven’t seen the dog yet!
ART: What—I—it’s right there!
AUSTIN: [cross] That’s—wait, but you didn’t see the right picture!
ALI: [cross] I don’t think it’s a monster dog! It’s like a dog with a good haircut. That’s like not scary.
AUSTIN: Some people in Silent Hill have good haircuts!
ALI: [laughs] That’s true.
ART: Yeah, while we’re there.
JACK: Yeah.
ALI: I retract my statement.
AUSTIN: So!
Photo one.
JANINE: Oh.
AUSTIN: Photo two.
JACK: [cross] No, you already pointed it out.
ALI: [cross] Wait, there’s a—
AUSTIN: See?
[ALI and JACK laugh]
One second, I’m gonna put this in our group chat.
[Laughter]
JANINE: It’s—
ART: You know you don’t have a [cross] group chat with the audience, right?
AUSTIN: [cross] You’re right. Thank you. Thank you.
[Audience laughter]
Yes I do!
ART: Everyone get on the group chat…
[Audience laughter]
AUSTIN: So. Put that there, and then—yeah I’m—[ALI laughs] yes! I know! I’m sending it to them first so they can just see it, and then I’m gonna do this.
[puts phone on table in front of camera]
ALI: We have to do the commentary first.
JACK: Ohhh!
[Audience laughs]
Can you zoom in [cross] on the most frightening features of this dog, please?
AUSTIN: [cross] So—yeah well it’s like here is the regular version.
[a curly white dog with a blunt head standing in side view]
This is the version [ALI: Okay.] before the sirens go off in Silent Hill, and then it’s like [cross] [siren foley] Bwaaaaaamp!
ALI: [cross] Bwaaaaaaamp!
AUSTIN: And then it goes like, [slightly more aggressive siren foley] Mwaaaaaaa [ALI: To make like a…] aaaaaaaaaaamp!
[just the dog’s head, with its eyes covered by fur]
[Audience laughter]
JACK: [cross] Where are its eyes?
AUSTIN: [cross] And its ears all dance, it’s weird!
[official video begins]
[louder] What’s good, Vancouver?
[Audience cheers and claps]
Welcome to Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interactions between good friends. I am your host, Austin Walker, and joining me today, Janine Hawkins.
JANINE: I’m Janine Hawkins. You can find me @bleatingheart on Twitter.
AUSTIN: [ALI: Ah—] Ali Acampora.
ALI: [laughs] My name is Alisha Acampora. You can find me @ali_west on Twitter.com.
AUSTIN: Jack de Quidt.
JACK: My name is Jack de Quidt. You can find me on Twitter @notquitereal and buy any of the music featured—[weakly] on the show…
[Audience laughter]
…at notquitereal.bandcamp.com.
AUSTIN: And Art Martinez-Tebbel.
ART: Hey, you can find me on Twitter @atebbel and you can also listen to the most depressing experience in my life [AUSTIN laughs] @onesongpod on Twitter!
[Audience laughter and clapping]
ALI: How’s everyone feeling, by the way? [AUSTIN: Just fantastic.] Just can we all have a minute?
AUSTIN: Oh, I can’t believe this password is just four 0s in a row. [ALI: Yeah…] Um.
Today we are playing a special game, it’s a prototype of a game that recently came through Kickstarter. It is called BFF! I don’t think the whole box is going to show—oh, it does! Nice!
ALI: Yeah!
AUSTIN: [holds up the box, which has a group of kids with various skin tones, shapes, props and fashion looking excited under the title]
Perfect. A game designed by Terri Cohlene and Ross Cowman. You might know Ross Cowman’s name from a game called Fall of Magic that we played on our live Patreon feed, and then we released earlier this month—or last month I guess now, on the main feed. It is illustrated by Taylor Dow and by Veta Bakhtina, which I mention because this game has a bunch of cool art in it! And thankfully [JANINE: Really good!] because of the fantastic production crew here at SHUX, we’re gonna get to show you some of that stuff as we play!
JACK: But we can’t touch it.
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: No. So I guess I’m gonna have to be like the person who touches pieces, on top of being the—
JANINE: [cross] The game master, if you will.
AUSTIN: [cross]—facilitator. Right.
ART: [cross] The charm step’s gonna be hard for us down here.
AUSTIN: Um, so, do we just wanna get into it? [ALI: Yeah!] Do you wanna go over like high level what it—I’ll do the thing I do on the show! “Best Friends Forever! is a roleplaying game where we tell a story about a group of young friends hanging out, having adventures, and exploring their friendships together. To play, you need 2-6 players,” Yeah. Okay. “With an hour or more to spare. If you’ve played before, you can skip the setting up.” I’m gonna probably do that basically, but I wanna set up what some of the pieces are that you can see here.
So, we have friends, which are these little cut-outs. These are the characters, these represent our characters. And, yknow, the people that they might wanna know or meet! Sometimes we will pick ours, but other characters might still pop up from time to time.
[sets out cut outs, which are the same characters from the box]
There are charm bracelets, which is this like we each have one of these little charm bracelet thingies. And those help us make up the personalities and relationships of our friends.
[holds up a piece of cardboard with five slots]
Each of the charms, of which there are many, and they are cool—I had said they are cool and the one I put down was a toothbrush.
[continues to adjust small charms]
[the friends laugh]
So. Extremely cool—just extremely cool stuff—here’s an elephant! Here’s a cat. Those represent something we like about that friend. Throughout the game we get new charms, we give charms as gifts, and we give up our own charms to show how we have changed or grown. Then there’s also this incredible deck of cards called the Friendship Deck, or the Friendship Cards. I thought someone raised a hand, and I was like, [tiredly] okay! Here we go.
[ALI laughs along with the audience]
Um.
ALI: Questions after.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: Questions after.
AUSTIN: Narrative—they are kind of narrative prompts. Again, if you listened to us play Fall of Magic, this is the sort of thing that previously would have just been in a location, where it said, “look at your own reflection” or something like that, right? Or “tell a story.” So these are things like “ask for help,” or “make up a game,” and these will give us prompts that we use in all of these different locations. Uh, very important: there’s also the X Card, which is an important safety tool whenever you play a roleplaying game like this. I’m gonna put that—
JANINE: Yeah, the camera.
ART: [cross] Should I put em up — just me. [???] [9:17]
AUSTIN: [cross] Here, at the camera. [holds up index card with X drawn on it]
It helps us remember that everyone has the power to change something that is spoiling the fun. If we at any point go in a direction that we wanna like pull the veil on, or say hey let’s stop going this direction, or hey, that just didn’t happen, I don’t feel good about that. We can all pull up our X Card—in this case.
JACK: Raise your hands, like this.
[spreads arms]
AUSTIN: You just—that’s—wait, that’s—
[ART puts arms up crossed at the wrist with closed fists and JACK mimics]
Yeah, that one! That’s—[spreads arms] this is excitement, [crosses arms at wrists] this is I was hurt in a wrestling ring, so I don’t think—but like this one.
ALI: [cross] I mean it’s—same purpose.
ART: [cross] If anyone has a legit injury.
AUSTIN: Yeah, [cross] a legit injury!
ALI: [cross] Okay, yeah.
AUSTIN: That’s—
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah. I’m good with that. Uh, we have a number of very pretty die, some of which were [JACK: I’m gonna eat em.] purchased by the extended friends at the family—friends at the…Friends at the family! Fam—mm! What do our significant others’ groups called here? What are Kat and Jess? Do you have a name? Is there like a…
ART: I don’t think we…
AUSTIN: By Kat and Jess! Thank you to Kat and Jess. For buying us nice, pretty dice.
[Audience and friends clap]
Um. And finally, there is the Hangout Book itself, which is so cool!
ALI: [cross] Gorgeous! Gorgeous.
JANINE: [cross] Mm-hm.
AUSTIN: It looks like a marble notebook. And then also is like—it’s filled with really good art of locations. [shows watercolor art of a basement to camera]
JANINE: Spoilers!
AUSTIN: Well, I’m just showing briefly that there’s cool art in this book! And that is kind of how we go from place to place in the city or town that we are going to explore! Is there anything else to set up here before we start characters? I think that that’s kind of it, right? [JANINE: Yeah!] [ART: Mm!] It’s time to start choosing who we are!
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: All right! I’m gonna put it on the map, and put the map down, and then we’re gonna pick our friends! Does that sound good?
ALI: Yeah yeah!
AUSTIN: Did you have any questions? I know we’ve done kind of test runs of this, but.
JACK: It’s a little difficult for us on this end to hear people.
AUSTIN: Okay!
[ALI laughs quietly]
ALI: Do you—
ART: [cross] I’m calling it a character trait.
AUSTIN: [cross] I’ll do my best to speak up, so. Great.
[JANINE and ALI laugh]
Gonna go great.
ART: Meet us back here.
JACK: Yeah!
AUSTIN: [shouting] It’s gonna go great!
ART: All right! [laughs]
JACK: Thanks!
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Uh, so! Who wants which friend?
JACK: [cross] Aw, jeez. Can we put them on the screen up there? [points to video screen]
JANINE: [cross] You start it. You’re right there.
AUSTIN: Oh, I guess I start and we’ll go down this way?
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: All right.
JANINE: [quietly] God help you if you pick the girl I want.
AUSTIN: I’m gonna be Rosa.
JANINE: Okay.
AUSTIN: We’re good?
JANINE: Yeah, we’re good [laughs]
AUSTIN: Does Rosa show up? Is Rosa showing up? I can’t see, [cross] cuz Art—
ART: Your finger’s over the face.
AUSTIN: Well, boom, look at that pretty, awesome face.
ALI: That’s who I was gonna pick…It’s okay. [Janine laughs] It’s fine. [cross] It’s literally fine.
AUSTIN: [cross] There’s a lot of cool friends here!
[ALI laughs]
My name is Rosa, and I have like blue hair, and really great red cateye glasses, and I’m holding like a PS2 controller for some reason? That—who could say why. Janine.
JANINE: I would like to be Preeta, who is the incredibly fashionable young girl. She has like a big gorgeous coat.
AUSTIN: Boom.
ALI: Ooh!
JANINE: I’m extremely into her.
ALI: [cross] [???] [11:58]
JANINE: [cross] Uh-huh.
AUSTIN: [cross] Extremely good, extremely good coat.
Uh, good coat, good bag. There’s a like a red bag with like a bunny with sunglasses on, [JANINE: Mm-hm.] very good.
ALI: Ooh!
AUSTIN: You can have Preeta! I guess I’ll keep [cross] Preeta over—
JANINE: [cross] Yeah, you gotta kinda have to—yeah.
AUSTIN: I’ll just keep them all over here, actually. Ali. Do you have a backup?
ALI: I do have a backup. I think I’m gonna go Sophia again?
AUSTIN: Okay. Sophia.
ALI: I playtested with Sophia, and she has [cross] a skateboard, so…
AUSTIN: [cross] Oh, Sophia’s sick, yeah.
[wiggles Sophia] Whoa~! I was skating. That’s what [cross] skating looks like.
ALI: [cross] [JACK laughs] It’s a very good energy.
AUSTIN: Uh-huh! Jack!
JACK: Uh, we would like to take Yuki and Tiffy, please.
AUSTIN: [over ALI laughing more and more] Ex—excuse, wait—what do you mean?
ART: [amused] I’m gonna be. Yuki and Tiffy.
JACK: We’re sisters.
ART: We’re sisters.
AUSTIN: You’re—[JANINE: Yes!] you’re gonna…Yuki the dinosaur.
[places character in a dinosaur costume on map]
ALI: Mm-hm.
[Audience shouts and chatters]
AUSTIN: And Tiffy the eggplant artist?
[places character in a eggplant costume on map]
JACK: I’m the eggplant.
ALI: [cross] Oh, perfect.
ART: [cross] I’m the dinosaur.
AUSTIN: And you’re sisters!
ART: Yes.
JACK: Yeah. Also, who’s Janine again—sorry, we were just deciding that we’d be sisters.
AUSTIN: [laughs] Oh, we should write these down.
JANINE: I have been writing them down.
AUSTIN: All right, one more time [ALI: Okay, yeah.] through. Rosa is me.
ART: I’m just gonna use Jack’s notes.
AUSTIN: [snorts] Great.
[Laughter]
Tiffy—which one of you is Tiffy and which one of you is Yuki?
JACK: I’m Tiffy, I’m the eggplant.
ART: I’m Yuki, I’m the dinosaur.
AUSTIN: Dinosaur…[ALI: Dino…] Wow, I wrote “Yuki - dinosaur,” which is not [JANINE: Yeah, same.] useful to me.
[ART laughs slightly]
I wrote Austin! What is happening?
[Audience laughs]
Art.
ALI: I’ll be playing Austin Walker today.
AUSTIN: [laughs]
Uh, Preeta was [cross] Janine—
ART: [cross] What’s good, friends?
JANINE: [cross] I am, yeah.
AUSTIN: [laughs] And Sophia was Ali!
ALI: Yeah. Uh, dinosaur, right.
AUSTIN: Mm-hm!
ALI: Who are you, Janine? I forgot.
JANINE: I’m Preeta, [ALI: Okay.] I have a beautiful coat.
ALI: Good coat, okay.
AUSTIN: It’s a good coat! It’s a good coat.
[ALI giggles]
All right. So here’s the thing I have to do is—move them and actually look at this book again really quick. All right!
ALI: [sing-song] Video games!
AUSTIN: So we’ve chosen them. We’ve chosen our friends. Now we all—ah, taking turns, starting clockwise—are we just doing this as clockwise?
ART: Yeah. With this, the clock goes this way.
[gestures in the table order: AUSTIN, JANINE, ALI, JACK, ART]
AUSTIN: Okay. Then we choose a charm, and tell us how—tell everyone how it reminds you of something you like about yourself, and place it in front of you or in your charm bracelet, if you are playing with that component, which we are! Here is our charm bracelet. Boom.
What is my thing about me? Uh, I love to fix things. I’m like a tinkerer. I’m like way into DIY stuff, Arduinos. Um. [JANINE: Raspberry Pis.] Raspberry Pis. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. I love it, so much. So I’m actually gonna take this little—there’s like a little toolbox with like silver tools, and that’s gonna be my first charm. Preeta!
JANINE: Uh, I would like to take the little matroshka doll, because you know a lot of girls our age play with dolls, but for me, I treat myself like a doll.
AUSTIN: [cross] Mm.
ALI: [cross] Ooh!
JANINE: So I see the things in my you know fashion fantasies and I make them reality for myself and I live that honestly.
AUSTIN: Good.
ALI: Um, I’m gonna go for the little bubble tea thing? It’s a—yeah.
AUSTIN: Oh, right. Delicious.
ALI: Yeah. I think that I have a part-time job—
[15:00]
—and I put all my money into my cool skateboard!
AUSTIN: Perfect.
ALI: Yeah!
AUSTIN: Pass this down.
ALI: Oh, I got one!
[AUSTIN laughs and sighs]
I thought you kept it. [laughs]
AUSTIN: Yeah—Tiffy? Tiffy. Tiffy and Yuki.
JACK: Uh, I’d like the ladybird, please.
AUSTIN: Is there—why would you like the ladybird?
JACK: I’ve got one.
[Audience laughter]
AUSTIN: [disbelieving] You’ve got one!
ALI: [nonchalantly] Yeah.
JACK: It’s in a little box.
AUSTIN: Kay.
JACK: Yeah—
AUSTIN: I’m gonna read again here. “Tell us how it reminds you of something you like about yourself.”
JACK: I saw it and I needed to take care of it.
AUSTIN: Okay. Yep. Let’s just pass this down. And you!
ART: I need to like get up and look at these charms.
AUSTIN: Come on down!
[ALI laughs]
[ART literally gets up to walk over to the other side of the table]
AUSTIN: [amused] We have a mic over here, too!
ART: Um.
AUSTIN: Oh, there’s some more here, too. The cat.
JANINE: Want that spooky clown?
AUSTIN: We got a spooky clown, we got a d20! We got a castle. We got a little sketchpad with a cat.
ALI: Again, the only way this could have gone. [laughs]
AUSTIN: [cautiously] Mm…What [JANINE: Yeah.] is—what is this? Oh, headphones!
JANINE: Headphones, it’s headphones.
AUSTIN: I thought it was like a turtle!
JANINE: It can be whatever you want it to be.
AUSTIN: It kinda looks like a turtle, I’m just—you know! Looks a little bit like a turtle!
ART: I’m gonna take the dolphin, please?
JANINE: [cross] I think that’s a shark.
AUSTIN: [cross] That’s a shark, my guy!
[Audience and friends laugh]
ART: I’m still in.
AUSTIN: That’s—deffo a shark. [amused huff] [shows the camera what is definitely a shark baring its teeth]
ART: [cross] You don’t know!
JANINE: [cross] That can’t be whatever you want it to be, that’s a shark.
[ART takes the shark and sits]
AUSTIN: …Wait, why?
JACK: You bring us a shark?
JANINE: It has gills!
ART: [cross] I’m good with the shark.
AUSTIN: [cross] No. [JANINE: Oh, okay.] Not why is it a shark. Why did you choose the shark, Yuki?
ART: I think it says something about my inherent ferocity. I’m a dinosaur.
AUSTIN: You are—yeah, okay.
ART: [over audience laughter] Sharks are the dinosaurs of the sea.
AUSTIN: [amused] There are a lot of different types of dinosaurs. There are like, ones that don’t eat [ALI: Yeah—] anybody.
Step—three, though it says four here in this playtest guide. After we all give ourselves a charm, go around a second time. This time we give a charm to the friend of your right and tell us how it reminds you of something you like about them. So, let’s start with Yuki.
JACK: Are we gonna get up again?
AUSTIN: Are you gonna—okay.
[ART is already walking back over]
[Quiet audience laughter]
[JACK follows]
AUSTIN: Tell me—pick a—oh, you’re both here now!
[Pause]
JACK: Hi.
AUSTIN: One more time?
JACK: Oh, I was just saying hello.
AUSTIN: Okay.
[ALI laughs slightly]
JACK: Uh, this is different with the…
AUSTIN: So, this is Yuki to Tiffy, [JACK: Yeah. Sophia.] Tiffy to Sophia, Sophia to Preeta, Preeta to Rosa.
ART: I’d like the mirror, please.
AUSTIN: Of course. Why would you like the mirror?
ART: Um. I think Tiffy is really true to themselves, and so this mirror is emblematic of that.
AUSTIN: [shows the mirror charm to the camera]
[dazed] Yeah.
[Audience laughter]
ART: And I like that. I like that about them.
AUSTIN: Great. [tries to give the charm to ART]
ART: But like give it to—
AUSTIN: Oh, right, sorry—you take this. Tiffy! [hands it to JACK]
[Pause]
ART: You wanna give me one while I’m here?
AUSTIN: Yeah, we’ll see what’s left!
[Audience laughter]
JANINE: All right, wow! Wow!
[ART walks back]
AUSTIN: [defensively] That’s the way the game works!
JACK: Uh, I’m gonna pick a d20. This reminds me of Sophia. Uh.
[AUSTIN shows the d20 charm to the camera]
Oh. Thank you.
AUSTIN: Yep.
JACK: Cuz Sophia and I are—we play tabletop games together [JANINE: Aw!] [ALI: Aw, yeah.] sometimes.
ALI: Sometimes.
JACK: [amused] Scheduling’s really hard.
AUSTIN: It’s so hard! [gives charm to JACK]
ALI: I have that part time job and all. And all the skateboarding.
AUSTIN: Lot of skateboarding.
ALI: Yeah. Mm-hm.
JACK: [laughs] I’m just carrying this!
AUSTIN: That’s yours!
JANINE: No, it’s—
JACK: Oh, cuz I’m true to myself.
AUSTIN: Yuki gave it to you!
JANINE: Oh yeah, yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: Sophia? What would you like to give to Preeta?
ALI: I’m gonna take the scissors?
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI: Preeta has such an incredible look, and I’m an amateur skateboardist, and I think that you kinda help me with my like…skateboarding outfits?
AUSTIN: Ooh.
JANINE: Yeah!
ALI: So I can get noticed by—
AUSTIN: [cross] Oh, so you like do—
ALI: —[cross] a skateboarder agent? [laughing] I don’t know!
AUSTIN: Oh, okay, well we—write that down! I now know what Sophia’s goal is.
[ALI cackles]
In life!
JANINE: All right! Umm. Can I see your girl again, please?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JANINE: I feel like I didn’t get a good look at her and I wanna [AUSTIN: [hands it over] Here’s Rosa.] get this right! Oh, okay. Well, there’s an obvious one. And it’s the turtle. [amused huff]
AUSTIN: These are headphones.
JANINE: It’s a turtle.
AUSTIN: Okay. [shows camera green and yellow headphones]
[cross] [amused] Why?
JANINE: [cross] And, uh—I think it’s because when I first met Rosa, she was a little bit closed off.
AUSTIN: Mm.
JANINE: And I’m very gregarious.
AUSTIN: [amused] Ah.
[Audience laughter]
JANINE: So I, you know, it look a litle bit to sort of see on her level and understand that once you got past that shell…
AUSTIN: [amused] Oh, it’s a turtle. [cross] I keep forgetting.
JANINE: [cross] Yes. I told you it’s a turtle. Rosa’s wearing headphones but the charm…
AUSTIN: That’s the thing!
JANINE: …is a turtle. You know.
AUSTIN: All right, I got a lotta options over here for Yuki. Um. I don’t know…what—hm. Yuki, can you come over? I’d love to…
[Laughter]
…have some…
[ART walks over]
AUSTIN: [cross] I was thinking—
ART: [cross] How’s it going.
AUSTIN: Yeah, I was thinking maybe…
ART: It’s a little on the nose.
AUSTIN: Is it? So you think—
JANINE: [laughing] It’s extremely on the nose.
[ART laughs]
ALI: [cross] Yeah…
ART: [cross] It’s literally a dinosaur.
JANINE: But it’s not a shark.
AUSTIN: I’m gonna give Yuki the dinosaur, because…
ART: What do you love—how does it remind you of a thing that you like.
AUSTIN: I love that you’re a dinosaur.
[Laughter]
[JACK: Yeah. Same.] Thank you, Yuki.
ALI: Yeah. That’s the truth.
AUSTIN: All right! We’ve done the beginning. We’ve made our characters. Let’s go over them one more time so that people will remember. I’m playing Rosa, who has on headphones and lots of like blue and pink and red and is really cute and has like a game controller and it has two charms. The tools, because I like DIY stuff, and a turtle [laughs] because I have like kind of a shell, I’m kind of private and kind of quiet and like, they gotta get inside. That’s me, Rosa! Preeta?
JANINE: I’m Preeta. I have a fabulous jacket, and my charms are a little Russian nesting doll, because I have the privilege and the opportunity to treat my own wardrobe and myself like a doll. And also scissors, because I helped Sophia hone her skater look so that she could land some attention from a skateboarding agent.
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Like you do!
ALI: [cross] Yeah, those, that exist.
JACK: [cross] Is that a thing?
ALI: Yeah! [AUSTIN: Sophia?] Mm-hm! They are—ask Tony Hawk.
[AUSTIN and ALI laugh]
AUSTIN: [cross] Tell me about yourself, Sophia.
ALI: [cross] Wait—is—does—okay, yeah. [laughs] I have a little bubble tea thing, cuz I have a part time job there.
AUSTIN: Gotchu.
ALI: And then I also play tabletop games with my good friend Tiffy!
JACK: Uh, I’m Tiffy. I’m an eggplant [hits mic, creating echo].
[Scattered laughs]
I have two charms. I have a mirror, because Rosa helped me—oh, Rosa thinks that I am [cross] true to myself.
ART: [cross] That was me. I gave you the mirror.
[AUSTIN snorts]
JACK: [over audience laughter] My darling sister thinks that I am true to myself. I need to put these in the other order.
[moves charms around]
AUSTIN: Uh-huh!
JACK: Like this. Cuz I—and I have a ladybug, cuz I got one!
AUSTIN: Do [laughs]—you do have one.
JACK: I needed to take care of it. It’s in a leftovers box…[pauses as if about to continue]
AUSTIN: …Good conversation. And finally. Yuki!
ART: Uh, I’m Yuki [sly] and I am a land dinosaur and a sea dinosaur!
AUSTIN: Oh!
[Laughter]
True! True. Got me there. All right. So! Start a Hangout. There is a map of a bunch of different places, that I will open and show to the class. [unfolds and opens book] Like this. Yeah that—that like—
ALI: [cross] So pretty…
JANINE: [cross] Yeah!
AUSTIN: This.
[lets camera focus on a watercolor map of a very green and colorful city, with little banners labeling locations]
ALI: [cross] So good.
JACK: [cross] Yeah.
AUSTIN: It’s extremely good. It’s extremely good. Table, where do we wanna begin our teen adventure? Have any suggestions—I’ll go over them for the people listening maybe and not watching. [turns book back]
JANINE: Mm-hm.
AUSTIN: We have: A Van Trip, Foggy Beach, Ms. Wei’s Yard, Sleepover at Tiffy’s, Lulu’s Basement.
[Audience laughter]
Jakan’s Mall—or [rhymes with wand] Jakand Mall. [rhymes with con-day] Jakande Mall? Jakande Mall. The Internet, Camp Summertime, Grandma’s Woods, The Bahn—which is like an apartment complex—, Santiago Circle, and Ghost Duck Middle School.
I’m—I gotta tell you, Tiffy’s—either Tiffy’s or Lulu’s are the two that are really calling for me.
JANINE: I’m a big fan of Lulu’s. I don’t know how everyone else feels.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Do we have a Lulu? Is Lulu also just hangin?
JANINE: Lulu’s a character! [cross] Yeah!
AUSTIN: [cross] Lulu is here too, maybe. Lulu’s great.
ALI: [cross] Lulu’s the…oh my god, Lulu’s that incredible communist Hella Veral?
JACK: [cross] Oh, Lulu’s great. Lulu has a shirt that is a…
AUSTIN: All right, so then maybe [ALI: [sighs] So good.] Lulu invites us over? Is that [JANINE: Yeah!] a good starting point?
JACK: Lulu’s shirt is a d20 and the communist symbol.
ALI: Yeah. [cross] It’s so good.
AUSTIN: [cross] That’s true.
JACK: [cross] Yeah.
AUSTIN: Same.
JANINE: We should just—didn’t we decide she was just Hella? [cross] She was teen girl Hella?
ALI: [cross] Yeah, she is. Yeah. [cross] Well. Better politics!
AUSTIN: [cross] Yeah. Lulu—is—yeah. Hella with better politics and like, likes playing games instead of being determined to never play a fucking game in her life.
[JACK and audience laugh]
Uh, all right! So we’re gonna start at Lulu’s Basement! I have to find it in this beautiful book. Okay! Here we go. Does someone else have the little actual writeup for what this is? Because we have like a [ALI: It’s in the Discord.] prototype version [JACK: Yeah. It was…] here, but we also have like an updated…
JANINE: [cross] They’re in the Discord.
ALI: [cross] I don’t have my phone!
AUSTIN: I have my phone. So it’s me! I’m the one who can do this! That’s fine. All right. So. Let’s—I’m just gonna put this out here and move our pieces. [puts down map of Lulu’s Basement, a cozy looking place, so that it is partly visible]
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Just out of the way.
ALI: Ooh, there’s like a picture in picture. It’s very nice.
AUSTIN: Okay! Each of the locations in this game has a special rule that kind of determines the sequence of events and how your hangout kind of shakes out. For [laughs] Lulu’s basement—sorry, I had to look at that Silent Hill dog again. Here we go.
What is Lulu’s dad up to? Roll and place your die on the Dad Tracker, which is right here. [points to diagram at top of map]
[Laughter and clapping]
After your scene, if you feel that Lulu’s dad is done with that activity, you may roll again. If you roll the same activity two times in a row, move the die to Who Knows? Anyone may choose to end the hangout at the start of their turn. Um, so, we’re all at Lulu’s basement. I think I’m gonna set things up. I think it’s like now-ish. It’s like October. Is this like a—can we do a combined thing? Can this be a sleepover in Lulu’s basement?
ALI: [cross] Sure.
JANINE: [cross] It doesn’t say it can’t be.
AUSTIN: Like it’s like [JACK: It’s a kinda weird location.] game night plus sleepover night at Lulu’s basement?
Yeah.
And the followup thing I wanna suggest is one, I think we’re really into gettin spooky. [JANINE laughs] Gettin—like not real spooky, don’t worry. I’m not gonna scare anybody. Or am I?
ALI: [amused] No body horror this time.
AUSTIN: I don’t think I’m gonna. [ALI: Well, maybe.] But like we’re teens [JANINE: No promises!] who love—right.
And then two, I think we’re preparing to go to s—to Halloween summer camp this weekend. And I know what you’re thinking. Summer camp happens [ALI: That sounds awesome.] in the summer. But! Not in this town. In this town, there’s summer camp, and then there’s the sequel, Halloween summer camp, [audience laughter] which happens on long weekends in October. And you just go to summer camp for the week—it’s like a sleepaway camp. So that’s my only worldbuilding here. I’m being very loose, beyond that.
All right! So! Who goes first?
JANINE: [cross] Can you give us a run down of—
ART: [cross] Wait, is Halloween summer camp a holiday? Because I don’t think there is a three-day weekend in October.
AUSTIN: In this town there is. And there’s more than one.
ALI: You just decide not to go to work on Monday!
AUSTIN: That’s all you gotta do!
[ALI wheezes with laughter]
Uh, yeah.
ART: [laughing] So like the truant officers just hang out outside Halloween summer camp?
AUSTIN: There are one two three four five six seven eight places that we can do scenes.
JANINE: [ALI: Okay.] Can you [AUSTIN: Here.] read those [ALI: Yeah.] too so—
AUSTIN: [cross] Yes. I will. I will, [ALI: Yeah.] that way we can—yeah. [takes book back]
JANINE: —[cross] we can write them down and save us a little heartache?
AUSTIN: Dad’s Collection [laughs]…I don’t know of what! I think—[cross] we’ll find out. We’ll find out.
JANINE: [cross] We’ll find out—
ALI and JANINE in unison: Play to find out what happens.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
[ALI and audience laughter, claps]
Thank you. The Machine, Unfinished Room, Cube Farmer RPG.
ALI: [cross] Okay, this is Tender’s apartment.
JACK: [cross] This is all horrifying.
ALI: What?
AUSTIN: Uh, Magic Land. Which looks very cool. Magic Land [ALI: I missed one.] has like a bunch of cool sheets and pillows. Ancient TV, Band Practice, [sinisterly] and Forgotten Toys.
[holds up map again, this time long enough to show a basement. it has many shelves, boxes of stuff, and a mysterious machine against one wall; a play table set up for Cube Farmer RPG; a rug piled with instruments; a TV and couch; a hole in the side of the stairs decorated with curtains and pillows; and some plastic wrap separating an unfinished room]
All right. Gonna put this down.
Because this is the first Hangout, we shuffle cards and we all get some.
ALI: I’m finished. Okay.
JANINE: Mm-hm.
AUSTIN: Thank you both for taking notes. Not you two.
[Audience laughter]
Did you take notes?
[JACK and ART hold up papers]
Oh, they took notes!
ALI: [cross] These notes are just for me. So [laughs]
AUSTIN: [cross] I—it’s so far.
JANINE: Ali was taking notes too, but then she did “school sucks” with a little chicken?
AUSTIN: Nice.
[Laughter]
ALI: It’s the ghost [cross] duck from our high school!
AUSTIN: [cross] Can you pass these down?
JANINE: Yes. I can.
AUSTIN: Three, pass em down. Don’t look!
ALI: All right.
JANINE: I was lifting them so I could get a better hold. [AUSTIN: [amused] Mm-hm.] [cross] I wasn’t looking.
JACK: [cross] Do we get to look at each other’s cards?
ART: [chuckles] I think that’s [cross] up to us.
JANINE: [cross] Three.
AUSTIN: [cross] There we go!
JANINE: Four, five.
AUSTIN: Uh, yeah, you two can look at each other’s cards. You’re sisters. Tiffy and Yuki definitely share cards. A hundred percent.
ALI: [intrigued] Hm! Hm! Ooh! I’m not gonna show them to you.
AUSTIN: [looking through cards] Ask for a—okay. Okay! Okay!
So! We’ve now drawn cards. We’ve read the rule. “If this is the first hangout, shuffle the friendship deck and deal a hand of three cards. For future hangouts, everyone may choose to discard any cards they don’t want, then draw back up.” We’ll deal with that when it’s time to deal with that. Et cetera, et cetera. So! I guess I’m starting? I guess I could start.
Okay. “We take turns. Anyone can start.” So anyone who has a good idea for an opening scene can start.
ART: Wait, roll the dad die!
AUSTIN: [ALI gasps] But no, whoever’s gonna go first is gonna roll the dad die, right?
ALI: Okay.
ART: I mean, you’re gonna roll the die.
AUSTIN: [tiredly] Okay, I’ll roll the die.
JACK: What’s Lulu’s dad doing, Austin?
AUSTIN: 4! Dad is doing 4.
[laughs from audience]
ALI: That’s a dad thing.
AUSTIN: Dad is fixing the Machine. [laughs]
[ART and JACK laugh ruefully]
JACK: Right, yeah.
AUSTIN: So, think about that, whoever has the first scene here. So, “next we take turns. Anyone can start. When it’s your turn, you are going to make up a scene starring your friend. Other people can contribute to your scene, but you get to be in charge of what happens. Choose a friendship card from your hand and play it face up on the table so everyone can see.” You can just say it out loud. I trust you all. Mostly.
“Other people can act out their characters, ask questions, and offer suggestions as we describe the scene together, just like a conversation. Other people can make up stuff too, but it’s your turn, so you get the final say. We also each get final say about what is true about our characters. At some point during your scene, you must use the prompt that’s on your friendship card to add something to your scene, but how you do that is up to you.”
And then, “three, pass the turn. When you’re ready for the scene to be over, you give—”
[30:00]
“—your friendship card to another player. It is theirs now to use in a future scene.” So whenever you feel like, hey, I’m done with this scene, you can end it, and then pass your card to somebody else. “During other players’ turns, listen, ask questions, offer suggestions. Find out what they are looking to get out of their scene and help make it happen.”
And finally, again with the X card, “Pay attention to how people are doing, and if something comes up in the story that’s making you or someone else feel uncomfortable, take a break to check in with everyone about what’s going on. If needed, you can back up the story and do things differently or edit out parts that are spoiling people’s fun.”
So! Dad’s workin on the machine. What—who has an idea for the first scene?
ART: I have an idea for a scene. [passes a card over]
AUSTIN: All right. Yuki, where are you goin?
ALI: [takes and passes the card] [laughing] Why is this the one?
AUSTIN: What did you do?
JANINE: [looks at the card] What—
AUSTIN: Okay! Great! Good. You wanna read it? [holds card, “Make up a ritual,” up to camera]
ART: Yeah, [audience laughs] we’re gonna make up a ritual.
AUSTIN: Good! Where are you at? Where you goin?
ART: Gonna level with you, it’s hard to see the map from here.
AUSTIN: [indignant] I—thought you took notes!
JANINE: This is what that was for!
JACK: I took notes. You also took notes!
ART: I have a list, but I don’t know what they look like!
AUSTIN: We’re—we do—[ALI: Look behind you!] it’s…[JACK: Mm.] the thing we do here is [huffs a laugh] [ART stands up to walk over] make up—Okay.
JACK: I’m gonna trust my sister.
ALI: This bit’s still funny, right?
[ART peers at the map]
AUSTIN: Magic land. Band practice.
JACK: I think we should go to the unfinished room and do a ritual.
[ART walks back to seat]
[Audience laughter]
[cross] Just this little eggplant, this round eggplant.
ALI: [cross] Are you—you sure…?
ART: Great thinking, Tiffy. This is the unfinished room.
JACK: [cross] Thanks, Yuki.
AUSTIN: [cross] Okay. Who’s there?
ART: I mean, who wants to make a ritual?
JANINE: I extremely want to make a ritual.
ALI: Yeah, I…
AUSTIN: I’m there, but I have my [JACK: I accept these—] headphones on, and I’m just being quiet and playing Switch.
JACK: I respect that!
ART: All right, but it’s gonna get spooky.
AUSTIN: [uncomfortable] Mm.
ALI: I’m on my skateboard.
AUSTIN: Is [ART: Perfect.] everyone else there?
JACK: [ALI: Yeah.] You’re on your skateboard?
AUSTIN: [cross] Hey, I have a question. Where’s—
ALI: [cross] Yeah! [ART: Inside?] In case I need to go!
AUSTIN: Where’s Lulu?
ART: It’s carpeted!
ALI: [cross] I don’t care.
JACK: [cross] Where is Lulu?
AUSTIN: Is Lulu here?
Has [JACK: No.] Lulu [ART: N—] not shown up yet?
JACK: [laughing] No.
ALI: Hey Lulu, we’re doing a ritual in your basement.
AUSTIN: All right, Lulu’s not here yet! Okay!
So, [ALI: She’s like—] set the scene a little bit. So what were you gonna say, Ali?
ALI: I was gonna say she’s like making us snacks?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: She’s making us snacks. And while waiting for those we got bored.
ART: Yes.
JANINE: Lulu’s a good friend and we’re cursing her house. This is good.
[Quiet laughs]
ART: No one said curse, you said curse.
JACK: Yeah.
[JANINE and ART laugh]
AUSTIN: All right, so what happens? What’s this look like? What does the—first of all, what does the unfinished part of the basement look like?
ART: I mean, doesn’t every unfinished room kinda look the same?
AUSTIN: I don’t know! What’s that look like?
ART: Well, you know, there’s no drywall. Uh.
ALI: Oh, none. None yet.
AUSTIN: Are there lights yet?
ART: Yeah, I think it’s got that thing where it’s like the bulb in the little cage, like you see on like a scaffolding?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: One of the hook ones? Uh—my dad’s an electrician, so am I putting in way too many details here…? [laughs]
AUSTIN: Perfect. Do we have to like walk through that plastic stuff?
ART: Uh-huh, and [JACK: Absolutely.] there’s like completely—yeah there’s definitely plastic sheeting and it make—it gives it that like soft light, [AUSTIN: Yeah.] cuz it’s like translucent?
AUSTIN: What’s one thing in this room that is finished by itself and nothing else is?
ART: There’s a sink in the corner.
[Loud laughter]
ALI: Ooh!
AUSTIN: That seems useful for a ritual!
JANINE: Is it like a laundry sink or a bathroom sink or a kitchen sink?
ART: It’s a laundry sink.
ALI: Ooh!
JANINE: Okay, so it’s kind of gross and creepy. That’s good.
ART: And there’s like the hook-up for a dryer, but no dryer yet.
JANINE: Very spooky.
ALI: Yeah.
ART: No washer either, but like.
ALI: Okay.
JANINE: Wow.
ART: I’m being more specific about the dryer.
[JANINE laughs]
AUSTIN: [chuckles] So what happens?
ART (as YUKI): All right. You know it’s Halloween camp tomorrow.
We gotta get on top of this.
[ALI wheezes]
JACK (as TIFFY): Are we gonna do a [first syllable rhymes with sea/see] seance?
AUSTIN (as ROSA): A [sea/see] seance?
JANINE (as PREETA): [cross] What?
ALI (as SOPHIA): [cross] A what?
AUSTIN: [cross] Headphones off.
(as ROSA): A [sea/see] seance?
[Laughter]
YUKI: A [sea/see] seance.
ROSA: [amused] Are you saying that because you love sharks? It’s a [first syllable rhymes with say] seance.
SOPHIA: Yeah.
TIFFY: You’re just gonna come right in here and correct my pronunciation in Lulu’s basement?!
[Laughter]
SOPHIA: [cross] It’s not your basement!
YUKI: [cross] No, it’s—it’s a—I don’t wanna hear from ghosts. I wanna see some ghosts. So it’s a [sea/see] seance! God!
ROSA: Fine.
AUSTIN: Headphones.
TIFFY: I respect that.
[AUSTIN laughs]
YUKI: Rude as hell!
TIFFY: Can we borrow your skateboard, please, Sophia?
SOPHIA: For what?
TIFFY: Case we need to go.
[Laughter]
SOPHIA: [laughs] Sure. Okay.
YUKI: All right.
SOPHIA: I’ll handle transportation.
AUSTIN: What’s your skateboard look like?
ALI: Oh, it’s sick. Um.
[Laughter]
Um. We just looked at all those dice, and this doesn’t exist for skateboards, but imagine if you could have skateboard wheels that were like plastic with gold glitter in them?
JANINE: I think you can, can’t you?
ART: [cross] Yeah, I think that’s a thing.
ALI: [cross] Well then—okay.
JACK: [cross] Yeah, I think that’s true.
ALI: I’ll ask Tony Sta—um. Tony Hawk—oh my god. No, okay.
AUSTIN: Did you say Tony Stark?
ALI: [high pitched] I did! [cross] [over audience laughter] I did do that.
AUSTIN: [cross] He’s my favorite skateboarder.
JANINE: He loves glitter. That’s the thing I know about him.
AUSTIN: I gotta watch more Marvel movies!
[ART laughs]
ALI: Um. Anyway, yeah. And then I think on the other side there’s like a dragon, but it’s like if a dragon was running? It has like the little—the like—
AUSTIN: [cross] Like the little running feet?
ALI: [cross]—Flintstones like [high pitched beeping] boop-a-doop-a-doop-doop! That’s not the noise. But sure. But just so like. You know. It’s like the Nike—no, it’s also not like that. [wheezes with laughter] But it’s inspiring. For speed.
AUSTIN: Perfect.
ART: Fast as a dragon running, that’s what they say.
AUSTIN: Rosa’s not doing anything.
(as ROSA) I need to know more about this ritual.
ART (as YUKI): Well, we all have to sit down and join hands.
[All the friends join hands except AUSTIN]
AUSTIN: Rosa like gives the hand of her hoodie.
JANINE (as PREETA): No, I’m not taking that!
[ALI and JACK laugh]
ROSA: Fine. Fine.
PREETA: I’m not holding your shirt for you!
ALI: [trying not to laugh] I can’t mute myself like this!
ROSA: Are you afraid of ghosts?
ALI (as SOPHIA): No.
PREETA: [cross] A bit.
JACK (as TIFFY): [cross] Yes.
PREETA: Yeah.
YUKI: No.
ROSA: I’m very afraid of ghosts.
TIFFY: Same.
PREETA: I’m afraid of ghosts that I’m telling to be seen but not heard. Cuz that seems very rude.
SOPHIA: Yeah, what’s the deal?
JACK: …Are we actually gonna do a seance? Here, on stage?
ROSA: I would like to be a ghost that’s seen and not heard.
TIFFY: Yeah yeah yeah.
PREETA: That’s deep.
YUKI: Well, the sounds of the ghost are the scariest part, the like [ghostly moan] Oooooh!
[SOPHIA and TIFFY also make ghost noises]
ROSA: Shh!
TIFFY: Shh!
ROSA: [whispers] Lulu’s dad might hear, he’s [TIFFY: Oops.] fixing the machine!
TIFFY: And it’s not allowed to do a seance.
SOPHIA: We have to do it before the machine gets fixed, cuz [TIFFY: We do have to do it.] what if it messes with the ghosts?
YUKI: Yeah, ghosts hate machines.
TIFFY: Okay, what’s the next step, sister of mine?
YUKI: [chuckles] All right. We need to draw some symbols on the ground here.
[Everyone releases their hands]
SOPHIE: We’re—[laughs]
PREETA: [laughing] Okay.
ROSA: With what? Okay.
PREETA: I guess the hands were step one, step two is draw a bunch of stuff. All right.
SOPHIE: I already did. [holds out paper] I drew a ghost duck that says “School Sucks” so the ghost knows that we’re cool.
[Clapping]
ALI: Thank you. [laughs]
TIFFY: I drew a triangle surrounded by circles. [holds up paper]
[Clapping]
JACK: This is great! I wasn’t expecting to do this!
[Laughter]
YUKI: [holds up paper] I have the word “talking” and then it’s crossed out [TIFFY: Not allowed.] because there’s no talking allowed here.
[Clapping]
ROSA: I have a rabbit that’s crying [holds paper near camera] and it has a sign and it says, “No war.”
[Laughter and clapping]
TIFFY: Rosa! Why do you always talk about no war?
ROSA: I would like there not to be any.
TIFFY: I respect that.
YUKI: What if it’s a war ghost?
SOPHIA: Well—
ROSA: It better not be a war ghost.
SOPHIA: Well then it won’t like war, cuz it died in a war, jeez!
ROSA: Was there a war here??
YUKI: I think there’s been war everywhere.
ROSA: Oh no…
PREETA: [holds up paper] I drew a dagger [laughs]
[Laughter and clapping]
AUSTIN: Give me that dagger.
[JANINE passes it over]
[AUSTIN holds it close to the camera]
ROSA: Now what?
[Everyone joins hands again]
PREETA: Oh.
ROSA: This is just step one again.
YUKI: It’s also step three!
PREETA: Repetition is the key to success.
SOPHIA: Mm-hm. Ghosts love it.
YUKI: Okay, now just focus on the symbols.
SOPHIA: On our own symbol or yours?
YUKI: Any symbol!
SOPHIA: Okay.
ROSA: I can’t stop thinking about the dagger.
[Laughter]
YUKI: All right, you’re gonna get someone who got stabbed.
ROSA: No.
SOPHIA: There’s a symbol that says “No Talking,” we keep talking!
[pause]
TIFFY/GHOST: [shouts] I’m seized by the spirit!
[Laughter]
She controls me, sister of mine!
YUKI: Can you draw its attention to the “No Talking”?
SOPHIA: Hello.
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) nods jerkily]
[Laughter]
Welcome to the unfinished basement of Lulu. Of the house of Lulu.
PREETA: Are you sure it’s a spirit? Are you sure a bug didn’t get in your suit again?
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) looks around carefully and does a head shake]
ROSA: [whispers] I think it’s the ladybug.
PREETA: Yeah, he gets out sometimes.
SOPHIA: [cross] Don’t be weird!
TIFFY/GHOST: [cross] [loudly] It’s not the ladybug! The ladybug’s fine! Sorry.
SOPHIA: The spirit is the ladybug!
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) nods firmly]
YUKI: A dead ladybug?
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) nods]
[SOPHIA gasps]
Ooh!
ROSA: Are you telling us something about…about Halloween summer camp? Is there—is it haunted by the ghost of a dead ladybug?
SOPHIA: Is Tiffy’s ladybug gonna be okay?
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) nods]
ROSA: Go back to my question, that one’s important.
TIFFY/GHOST: What was it again?
ROSA: Is [YUKI: Shh!] Halloween summer camp haunted by the ghost of a dead ladybug?
TIFFY/GHOST: Yes.
ROSA: Ah! Ahhh!
[JACK (as TIFFY/GHOST) nods]
SOPHIA: What are we gonna do? I guess it’s just a ladybug.
ROSA: It’s a ghost! [laughing] Have you ever fought a ghost before?
[Laughter, clapping]
SOPHIA: I haven’t. I haven’t. I’m a teenager.
ROSA: Right. Me too. You know what? [lets go of PREETA’s hand] I’m gonna go ask Lulu’s dad for help, because if we’re going to [SOPHIA: No!] Halloween summer camp tomorrow, we’re gonna need tools just in case the ghost comes.
SOPHIA: Okay. Yeah. Okay.
ROSA: And I’m gonna try to design something.
YUKI: Did you break the circle?
ROSA: No. [takes back PREETA’s hand]
[Laughter]
PREETA: He broke the circle—she broke the circle.
YUKI: I think the ghost might be free.
TIFFY/GHOST: I’m free now.
[SOPHIA gasps]
[Laughter]
I can talk as much as I want. I hate this basement! And now I will go and wreak my vengeance upon you—[looks to YUKI] uh, are you going to summer camp? Yeah? Did mum fill in the form? [amused] Yeah, okay, good!
Are you all going to summer camp?
ROSA: Yeah. Yeah.
SOPHIA: Yeah.
TIFFY/GHOST: I’ll mess you up at summer camp!
[Laughter]
And now I’m free—[lets go of hands] oh, what happened to me?!
[More laughs]
AUSTIN: And I think Lulu probably comes in now with like bagel bites.
JACK: Aw, thanks, Lulu.
JANINE: I’m sorry, could you say that again?
AUSTIN: Lulu comes back in with bagel—mm.
ALI: Mm.
[Audience laughter]
[ART laughs]
JANINE: Sorry.
AUSTIN: With little pizzas on…dough.
[Laughter]
Bagel. Bites.
[JANINE laughs]
JACK: I think that’s—is that the end of the scene?
AUSTIN: Is that the scene?
ART: [cross] Yeah, that’s the scene.
AUSTIN: [cross] Is that your scene? Okay, well! [ALI: Hey!] Uh, what was the rule again?
JACK: Roll the dice.
AUSTIN: Do we roll again at this point?
JANINE: [cross] You have to give your card to someone.
ART: [cross] No, it starts the next one. First I have to give my card to someone.
AUSTIN: Give your card, yeah. After your scene, if you feel like Lulu’s dad is done with that activity, you may roll again. So.
JACK: He’s still fixing the machine!
AUSTIN: Do you think Lulu’s dad is done working on the machine, do you think he’s still on it?
ART: No! Fixing a machine feels like it takes a long time.
AUSTIN: That’s true. That’s true.
JANINE: Yeah.
ART: I’m gonna give that card to Ali.
ALI: Ooh!
AUSTIN: What was the card? The ritual card? [ART: Yeah.] Yeah, good call.
JACK: Yeah. Do you have it listed? Yeah, you do.
AUSTIN: Yep.
[Pause as JANINE sets down the card]
All right! Who goes next?
JACK: Is it me? Do we go this way or do we go that way?
ART: I think it’s just whoever has something.
AUSTIN: Yeah, I think so. No, because—then…I think it has to be some order.
JACK: Well we went round late time.
AUSTIN: We did clockwise last time.
JANINE: Yeah, let’s just do…yeah.
AUSTIN: All right. So.
JACK: Kay.
AUSTIN: Um! Do you wanna wrap back around or do you wanna come down this way?
ART: It’s up to you.
AUSTIN: Do you have something, Jack?
JACK: I have something!
AUSTIN: Then you go!
JACK: Uh, I’m going to—I would like to talk to Rosa, [hands over card] privately, but anybody else [laughing] can come.
JANINE: Okay.
AUSTIN: You’ve chosen the card “Share Your Feelings.” Where are we meeting?
JACK: Um. We are meeting in Magic Land. [AUSTIN: Yeah!] Emergency meeting in Magic Land, Rosa, and anyone else who wants to come.
[Pause as AUSTIN stacks the characters on the map]
AUSTIN: Is anyone else coming to Magic Land?
JACK: Did Lulu die??
AUSTIN: Lulu is taking a nap. Lulu ate those bagel bites, and whoo! Takin a pre-game nap.
JACK: Mm-hm. Fair. Anybody else coming?
JANINE: Uh, I’ll come. To Magic Land.
JACK: Thank you…Preeta?
JANINE: [cross] I’m Preeta, yes.
ART: [cross] I’m planning a dramatic mid-scene entrance.
AUSTIN: [cross] Did you help make—Magic Land look so fashionable?
JANINE: Uh, I mean, yes, but I wouldn’t take the credit for it.
AUSTIN: Gotcha.
JANINE: Things like that do just coalesce on their own.
JACK (as TIFFY): [sadly] Rosa.
AUSTIN: Wait, do we now have to roll for—no, we don’t—you roll at the end of this turn for dad.
JACK: Mm-hm.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
TIFFY: Rosa.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): Yes?
TIFFY: Um, I was pretending.
ROSA: Oh thank god.
TIFFY: But I think I—what if we did? What if we did contact a ghost, Rosa?
ROSA: Wait, what—do you mean now? If we also go p—
TIFFY: No no no no no no! No, what if back then we contacted a ghost.
ROSA: Like what if by pretending, you got the attention of a ghost who was really mad that you would pretend [TIFFY: Yeah.] to be a ghost, which is fair, because it’s rude.
TIFFY: Yeah.
JANINE (as PREETA): It was pretty rude.
TIFFY: Yeah. And I don’t wanna go to Halloween camp!
ROSA: I don’t either, but you know what the rule is.
TIFFY: Yeah.
[Laughter]
ROSA: No Christmas if you don’t do Halloween camp!
TIFFY: No Christmas if you don’t do Halloween camp.
PREETA: You have to eat all your Halloween first. And then you get Christmas.
TIFFY: You have to eat all your Halloween first. That’s what they say.
[upset] What if there’s a ghost, Rosa?
ROSA: Say that again?
TIFFY: [even more upset] What if there’s a ghost, Rosa?!
ROSA: If there’s a ghost, we…[cross] leave.
PREETA: [cross] Beat the hell out of it.
ROSA: Yeah! Wait. [TIFFY: What?] What did you say?
PREETA: Beat the hell out of it.
ROSA: Out of the ghost.
PREETA: Out of the ghost.
TIFFY: I mean, that’s really—that’s more Yuki’s thing.
[ART knocks]
TIFFY: Yuki.
ROSA: Ahh, it’s a ghost!
[45:00]
TIFFY: Oh jesus!
ART (as LULU’S DAD): [gruff voice] Oh, this machine ain’t workin yet!
[ART taps on the table for ‘work’ noise]
[Laughter]
TIFFY: Oh, hi, Lulu’s dad.
ROSA: Lulu’s dad’s still working—do you need help? Mr. Lulu?
LULU’S DAD: Nah, it’s fine, I’m just workin.
[Tapping and thumping]
ROSA: Mr. Lulu, can you come here for a second?
[Stomps repeatedly]
PREETA: Oh my god.
LULU’S DAD: Yeah, what’s goin on?
ROSA: Do you have any machines for…ghosts.
LULU’S DAD: [laughs pityingly] Machines can’t affect ghosts.
[Audience laughter]
AUSTIN: Just complete—
LULU’S DAD: What a wild question.
AUSTIN: All of the blood is out of Rosa’s face.
LULU’S DAD: Ghosts aren’t bound by the same rules you and I are.
TIFFY: Have you ever seen a ghost, Lulu’s Dad?
LULU’S DAD: Well, goodbye.
[Laughter]
ROSA: If machines can’t hurt ghosts then what are we supposed to do?
TIFFY: Preeta, how do we beat the hell out of a ghost?
PREETA: Uh, we have a lot of things at our disposal that aren’t machines.
ROSA: …I don’t.
PREETA: I mean, I guess it also depends on how you’re gonna define a ma—is it like a simple machine? Cuz that’s like a lever, and we probably still need stuff like that.
ROSA: If ghosts aren’t affected by levers, then I don’t know what we’re gonna do.
PREETA: We’ll think about it. We have time. We have so much time before Halloween camp.
TIFFY: Do we?
ROSA: It’s tomorrow!
TIFFY: Yeah.
PREETA: That’s a lot of time.
ROSA: All right.
TIFFY: Do we have to get a knife?
PREETA: …Yes.
[Laughter]
JACK: All the blood just drained from Lulu’s face.
AUSTIN: Is that scene?
JACK: Yeah, I think so.
AUSTIN: [cross] Okay! All right.
JANINE: [cross] I have an academic question, is a knife a simple machine?
AUSTIN: No! [JACK: No.] Only once it’s in someone.
JANINE: [cross] Okay, all right.
ART: [cross] Yeah, you could use it as a lever [cross] eventually.
JANINE: [cross] Yeah, okay. That’s enough of that, I think.
ART: Or an incline plane, I think.
AUSTIN: I—yeah, uh-huh!
[cross] Listen to Marielda and find out more.
JANINE: [cross] All right. [laugh]
AUSTIN: Next up, Sophia.
ALI: Yeah! Do I have control of the dad dice? [cross] Can we move the dad?
AUSTIN: [cross] You—yeah. Or, no, I guess—Tiffy can decide if you wanna roll dad dice.
JACK: Yeah, he’s not fixing the machine anymore.
AUSTIN: Okay. [cross] Rollin the dad die.
JANINE: [cross] Yeah, he did move.
[Pause]
AUSTIN: That’s a 6! [ALI: Okay.] On a 6…oh [laughs]. He has to go to work!
[Friends laugh]
ART (as LULU’s DAD): Well, bye!
[Laughter]
AUSTIN (as ROSA): It’s nighttime!
LULU’s DAD: Work goes on all the time.
JACK (as TIFFY): What’s your job, Lulu’s dad?
JANINE: Is he a ghost hunter?
LULU’S DAD: Oh. I’m a paranormal machinist.
JANINE: Yep, there we g—
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Okay, okay. Wait!
JANINE: Kay.
AUSTIN: Wait! How are you—
(as ROSA): Lulu’s dad, how are you a paranormal machinist if you said machines couldn’t affect the paranormal?
LULU’S DAD: The machines aren’t for the ghosts.
ROSA: …Oh. [cross] Bye.
TIFFY: [cross] I don’t know what that means!
LULU’S DAD: Bye.
[Laughter]
[Stomping noises]
JANINE: Did he run out?
AUSTIN: [laughs] [swings arm in ‘run’] Gotta go!
[A few more stomps]
Sophia, where’s our next scene?
ALI: Um, I would like to hold a meeting by the forbidden toys.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ART: Oh, but the card has to pass. The…
AUSTIN: Oh yeah, do you wanna…
ALI: [disconcerted] Okay. Okay!
ART: No, no!
ALI: Oh oh oh. [cross] Yeah.
JANINE: [cross] The other card. Yeah.
ART: [cross] The card from the last scene has to…
AUSTIN: Tiffy’s scene has to…Tiffy, where did you put your card?
JACK: Uh, I’m gonna give my card to Preeta.
AUSTIN: There you go.
JACK: For her good advice [laughing] to kick the shit out of a ghost.
AUSTIN: Good advice. [hands card to JANINE]
JANINE: Thank you. Thank you.
AUSTIN: Now, new card.
ALI: Yes. Yes yes yes yes. I’m gonna ask a stranger? [passes new card]
AUSTIN: Okay. [holds it up]
ALI: You guys were having that meeting, and it was very…it was very important, but Sophia has been on her phone, as pictured in her little thing, [satisfied] consulting a ghost forum.
AUSTIN: Good.
JACK: What’s the address of the ghost forum?
ALI: GetGhostsOut.com.
JACK: [cross] Get Ghosts Out?
AUSTIN: [cross] Who’s on the forum?
ALI: [firmly] Get ghosts out!
ART: /forum.
ALI (as SOPHIA): I’m really excited for Halloween camp. I don’t want it to be haunted!
AUSTIN: Is that what you type into the ghost forum?
ALI: Yes.
AUSTIN: Okay. Who responds?
Let’s see. [picks up a character cut-out] We have—there’s like everybody else here, right? Um.
JANINE: She’s extremely goth, [cross] so I kinda vote her.
AUSTIN: [cross] Mia is extremely—[cross] do you wanna do Mia?
ALI: [cross] Ooh, yeah yeah yeah.
JACK: Who’s this?
AUSTIN: Someone on the ghost forum. [puts down goth girl holding a guitar case]
ALI: Who is—can I write down this name, who is this?
AUSTIN: [cross] Mia.
JANINE: [cross] A ghost stranger.
ALI: Mia…
AUSTIN: She’s extremely—you can see her right there. Extremely goth.
ALI: Incredible.
AUSTIN: So Mia is on the forum—wait, are there two—oh, sorry, that’s My. That’s My.
JANINE: Oh.
AUSTIN: This is Mia.
[a girl dressed in purple holding another instrument case]
Also on the forum. They are also sisters.
JANINE: Amazing.
AUSTIN: And they love music.
ALI: [laughing] Perfect! Who wants to be in my meeting, cuz it’s very important, and it’s mandatory for the sleepover.
AUSTIN: I—wait. Mandatory?
[ART laughs]
ALI: I’m not gonna hang out with people who don’t know how to fight ghosts!
AUSTIN: Okay, Rosa’s gonna be there, [ART: Yeah.] but also again quiet.
JANINE: Preeta doesn’t do mandatory.
ART: Yuki’s gonna be there.
ALI: [laughing] Okay…
JACK: I’m sending my sister.
ALI: [laughing] You’re lucky My went designer [49:54] [???] and I can give you the notes after.
(as SOPHIA): All right, everyone. We have to figure out this ghost thing.
ART (as YUKI): Yeah.
SOPHIA: Yeah.
YUKI: Yeah.
SOPHIA: …Lulu’s dad has all these weird toys in here? And I think that we can find something to take those ghosts down.
AUSTIN: [over ALI laughing] I’m not here. Or actually I am here, I’m just quiet.
SOPHIA: I’ve been looking through everything, and I found a haunted Hess Truck.
YUKI: A what?
SOPHIA: A haunted Hess Truck! They gave em—
YUKI: The gas station toy?
SOPHIA: Yeah, they give them out at holidays?
YUKI: They don’t give those out. Those cost money.
SOPHIA: [trying not to laugh] They do cost a lot of money.
YUKI: [amused] It’s the perfect gift for the grandparent who forgot they had a grandchild.
AUSTIN: Wow!
Cut’s deep!
JACK (as TIFFY): That happened to us.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): …Did you read on the internet that you could stop a ghost with a haunted Hess Truck?
SOPHIA: Well, so I read that…[tentative] the Wikipedia article for Ghostbusters…
ROSA: The real ones or?
SOPHIA: They were real in the movie!
ROSA: Right.
SOPHIA: New York’s a real place!
ROSA: That’s true.
SOPHIA: [slight laugh] Anyway. This truck has a little bit of like a hatchback situation and I thought that we could trap the ghost in there. Cuz it’s like a ladybug-sized car!
YUKI: Isn’t there already a ghost in it, though? It’s haunted?
SOPHIA: Well, they’ll go on a road trip [amused] out of our summer camp.
YUKI: So you’re gonna bring an extra ghost.
We’re worried about ghosts and you’re like, I know what to do. Bring a ghost.
SOPHIA: [cross] Well—
ROSA: [cross] Well maybe once you have like extra ghosts it’s okay. [SOPHIA: Yeah!] Cuz there’ll like have people to hang out with.
YUKI: Oh, so the two ghosts’ll hang out and they won’t have time to bother us.
SOPHIA: [cross] Right, exactly.
ROSA: [cross] As long as there’s only two ghosts there—or one ghost there already. If there’s already two ghosts, then this is like a third wheel situation.
YUKI: Oh, you don’t wanna third wheel the ghost.
ROSA: We could have a ghost triangle, and that’s no good.
YUKI: Well but if there’s three ghosts we could bring one, then there’d be four ghosts and the ghosts can have like a double situation.
SOPHIA: [cross] Well then you—
ROSA: [cross] What if there’s five ghosts?
YUKI: Five ghosts is good too, cuz then it’s six. Then it’s three couples of ghosts.
ROSA: What if it’s six ghosts?
YUKI: That’s gonna be a disaster, cuz then we’re gonna have seven lonely, angry ghosts!
SOPHIA: Wait. [laughing] We currently are a group of seven?
YUKI: What?
SOPHIA: Like in the house! That’s the—[AUSTIN laughs loudly] it’s fine. It’s—mm. Anyway, everyone pick a toy, if we’re each gonna have a ghost.
YUKI: Every toy in this basement has a ghost in it?
SOPHIA: You heard Lulu’s dad! He’s riddled with ghosts.
ROSA: It’s true.
YUKI: Did he say that?
[ALI laughs]
ROSA: He said he was riddled with ghosts.
SOPHIA: You could just tell by looking at him!
[Quiet audience laughter]
YUKI: Hold on, let me see if I can picture it.
ALI: Can you repeat that, I didn’t hear you.
ART: Just see, lemme see if I can picture him saying it, and then I realized that it’s really hard to like do a flashback in this specific context?
AUSTIN: You’re like, you go, [tape rewinding foley] dtdtdtdtdtdt, and then it’s a flashback.
ART (as LULU’S DAD): Hey, I’m riddled with ghosts!
[Audience laughter]
Oh, okay, huh!
AUSTIN: Yeah. That’s him. Perfect.
TIFFY: What does that mean, Lulu’s dad?
LULU’S DAD: Well, goodbye!
[Laughter]
[ART stomping]
SOPHIA: He’s gone! Again.
ART: He keeps getting faster.
JANINE: And growing more feet!
ART: Well, he’s riddled with ghosts.
[JANINE laughs]
ALI: [cross] He is.
ROSA: [cross] So what toy should I bring?
ART (as YUKI): I’m gonna take this catcher’s mitt.
SOPHIA: [cross] That’s amazing…
ROSA: [cross] Is that a toy? Also, it’s a haunted catcher’s mitt.
YUKI: Yeah, a haunted catcher’s mitt.
ROSA: Which I don’t like the sound of in any way.
YUKI: It makes that satisfying like [mimics ball hitting mitt] thwup! sound. Like a…catcher—like…
ROSA: Maybe you can catch ghosts with it.
[ART closes hand loudly and then claps quietly]
JACK: No, we know what a catcher’s mitt is.
ART: Well, the microphone doesn’t.
AUSTIN: It doesn’t really work.
(as ROSA): I’m gonna take—
[sound of JACK demonstrating microphone clapping maneuvers]
is someone already taking the Hess Truck?
SOPHIA: [over the sound of ART copying JACK] Yeah, that’s mine!
YUKI: Ohh!
ROSA: I’m gonna take a—there’s like a little stuffed monkey. I’m gonna take the little stuffed monkey.
SOPHIA: Okay.
ROSA: A haunted stuffed monkey.
SOPHIA: Right.
ROSA: But it’s haunted by a lion. So it’s very strong.
YUKI: And I’m gonna get a toy for Tiffy.
ROSA: Which one?
YUKI: Um. I’m gonna get this Barbie convertible.
ROSA: Ooh!
YUKI: A haunted Barbie convertible.
SOPHIA: Can you get that dead Tamagotchi for Preeta?
YUKI: No, you can’t take a dead—[cross] a haunted dead Tamagotchi—but that’s—
SOPHIA: [cross] We’re collecting ghosts! We’re literally collecting ghosts!
YUKI: That’s two ghosts again!
SOPHIA: There’s a coffin on it!
YUKI: But it’s the ghost of the Tamagotchi and then the other ghost in it, it’s…you’re messing up the math!
ROSA: It doesn’t matter. We can’t use machines anyway. Lulu’s dad said so. A Tamagotchi is just a machine friend.
YUKI: Mm. [cross] I do remember that.
SOPHIA: [cross] It’s a real pet.
ROSA: I didn’t say it wasn’t a real pet. I said it was a machine friend.
SOPHIA: Okay. Right. That’s the same thing. Um. Anyway, Preeta would really like it. It matches her coat.
YUKI: Mm.
AUSTIN: That’s a really good way to pick a toy to fight ghosts!
[JANINE laughs]
Does it match? Yes. [ALI: Yes!] Absolutely this one then.
JANINE: She knows Preeta’s priorities.
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: Fair. [cross] Okay!
ALI: [cross] Do we all—do we all have a toy?
AUSTIN: For—most of us.
ALI: Okay.
AUSTIN: Did anyone get Preeta anything?
JANINE: That’s what that—
ALI: That was the whole thing! [laughs]
AUSTIN: Oh, I missed that. I was busy thinking about ghosts.
[JANINE laughs]
ALI: It’s a stressful night. [cross] We all understand.
AUSTIN: [cross] It is.
JANINE: You were busy thinking about machine friends, let’s be honest.
AUSTIN: I was. It’s true.
JACK: Uh, Sophia’s phone buzzes and it’s a message from GetGhostsOut.com/forum that says, “DID YOU GET TOY?”
[AUSTIN laughs]
ALI (as SOPHIA): Oh! Oh oh oh oh oh oh! The ghost professional got back to me. It’s a free trial for 14 days so we really have to take care of this ghost thing very quickly.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): Okay.
SOPHIA: Um, they’re asking if we got toys. Yes, right? Everybody got a toy?
ROSA: Yeah, we got toys.
SOPHIA: Okay. “Yes.”
JACK: There is no response for 46 minutes.
[Audience laughter]
ALI: I watch an episode and a half of Top Chef.
[Laughter]
JACK: “GOOD.”
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Good.
ART (as YUKI): What a good episode of Top Chef that was.
ROSA: [cross] I’m thinking about becoming a chef.
SOPHIA: [cross] I love Restaurant Wars.
AUSTIN: [laughs] All right. Are we—is that scene?
ALI: I think so.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI: We’re prepared.
AUSTIN: Preeta.
JACK: [cross] Oh, no—
ART: [cross] Wait, you have to give the card.
ALI: [cross] Yeah yeah yeah, mm.
AUSTIN: [cross] Oh, do you wanna roll?
ALI: [laughs] I think I’m gonna have you keep the card, Austin?
AUSTIN: Okay!
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Would love to ask a stranger something in the future. Uh, do you wanna roll again for Lulu’s dad?
ALI: I would love to, yeah—no, he’s at work.
AUSTIN: You’ll let him be at work.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JANINE: Uh, okay. So I think Preeta is…[clicks tongue] I think she’s doing band practice. I think the ghost talk is good, but it seems like the situation is under control, in its way, and Preeta doesn’t know that the whole toy bin thing fits her aesthetic.
AUSTIN: Mm.
ALI: Fair.
JANINE: You know, she’s been working on that a little bit. It’s—she’s in that transitional phase. So she’s kinda thinking [sighs]…if you can’t fight a ghost with machines, and in case the toys don’t work—because the toy plan, again, little shaky, little unaesthetic—you can always charm ghosts with music. And this is Preeta’s plan. [AUSTIN: What card?] Learn how to do any music.
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: What card are you playing?
JANINE: Oh.
[ALI laughs]
Uh, oh. This is super—Yell Together?
[hands card over]
AUSTIN: Yell together!
ALI: Yes!
AUSTIN: All right.
JANINE: Cuz I bet ghosts love screamo.
I don’t think any of us do, or are going to do it on stage, I hope. [laughs slightly]
ALI: Why would you s…
AUSTIN: Yeah, why would you say that to us?
ALI: Yeah, don’t make that part of our brand! Friends at the Table loves screamo!
AUSTIN: We love it.
[Laughter]
Who’s at brand—band practice? Who’s at brand practice, ugh.
ALI: [cross] Well, if—
ART: [cross] Enthusiastic yes.
ALI: [laughs] I’m also here. Representing the brands.
JACK: [cross] Yeah, I’m also here.
AUSTIN: [cross] What’s everyone play?
[one of the cardboard character models falls of the table]
Uh-oh.
JANINE: Uh-oh.
ART: Oh no!
[ALI laughs loudly]
AUSTIN: Well! The ghost struck.
[JANINE laughs]
[Audience member passes back the piece]
Thank you so much.
JACK: Uh, we are both playing the same piano.
AUSTIN: Ugh. Good.
ART: I’m on the right side. Playing the low notes.
[Laughter]
ALI: Okay. Um.
AUSTIN: That’s backwards.
[JACK turns away from ART]
Oh wait, I guess you could be on the right side and also reaching over to play the low notes.
ART: What, isn’t—isn’t it over here? Someone get me a piano.
[pause as JACK is bewildered]
AUSTIN: You seem upset. Like genuinely.
JACK: [cross] It’s fine.
JANINE: [cross] Art appreciates what you do, I just wanna say—I know he does.
JACK: Yeah. Yeah. We start down here, and then it gets increasingly high as we go up here, so it doesn’t…
ART: That doesn’t sound right.
[Laughter]
JACK: All right, we’re fine. We’re great!
ART: All right.
AUSTIN: So you’re both on piano. Sophia?
JACK: I’ve got Grade Six! And Yuki has got Grade Eight.
[pause]
ALI: [cross] Rosa, can I…
ART: [cross] [muttering] Wait, what does that mean?
JACK: [quietly] You’re much better at the piano than me.
ART: That doesn’t sound true.
AUSTIN: Oh my god.
ALI (as SOPHIA): Rosa, can I borrow your Raspberry Pi? I wanna do kinda a chiptune thing [cross] for our summer camp?
AUSTIN (as ROSA): [cross] Yeah, I can definitely set you up with like a chiptune thing.
SOPHIA: I just think that like if we can’t interact with the mach—
ROSA: [chiptune foley] Beep mm bop!
[Audience laughter]
Beep bopbop mm op beep!
SOPHIA: I think if we can’t—
ROSA: Beep boop bop boop beep boomp!
SOPHIA: —interact.
ROSA: Beedop bomp boop bimp mm!
SOPHIA: [cross] With ghosts, with machines.
ROSA: [cross] Bodomp! Badop bop boop bimp! Byomp!
SOPHIA: Then mayb—
ROSA: Beedadoop!
SOPHIA: [cross] They’ll hate this! They’ll hate this! They’ll hate what you’re doing—
ROSA: [cross] Boop beedaboop! Beedabeedadoop! Bdoop!
SOPHIA: —and they’ll go away. That’s why it’s gonna work, cuz they’re [ROSA: Beedoop.] gonna hate what you’re doing.
[JACK yells with laughter]
ROSA: Beedoop badoop beedoododoompboomp. Bop!
Bowmp!
Bowmp.
Beedadoop bowmp.
[1:00:00]
[jazzily] Beep boop doop. Boop boop bowmp boomp boop byomp byomp.
SOPHIA: [cross] This is jazz chip…?
ROSA: Bedoop!
SOPHIA: Actually, it’s fantastic. [cross] We love to do pop as well.
ROSA: [cross] It’s—I’m trying to figure out jazz chiptunes, and it’s—no one’s done it before.
JANINE (as PREETA): Sometimes that happens for a reason.
ART: We’re gonna get such angry letters from the jazz chiptune people.
SOPHIA: Well, ghosts are kinda jazzy!
ROSA: Ghosts are kind of jazzy. I hadn’t thought about that.
SOPHIA: Yeah.
JACK: [shocked] The audience is nodding!
[Laughter]
ART: Yeah! [cross] Everyone is like, yeah, ghosts? jazzy!
ALI: [cross] It’s true! I’m right.
AUSTIN: [cross] Ghosts are kinda jazzy, yeah, you know!
ALI: I’m right!
ART: People who died before jazz was invented? Not ghosts!
AUSTIN: [laughs] Ah…god. It’s about the people you don’t get to see anymore. That’s…
ART: So you’re saying jazz was invented and every ghost that existed was just immediately annihilated.
AUSTIN: Gone!
ART: Yikes.
AUSTIN: Um.
JACK: So you’ve got a Raspberry Pi.
AUSTIN: All right, so yeah [ALI: Mm-hm.] we have someone with a Raspberry Pi playing [ALI: Mm-hm.] ja—is that me or you, Sophia? Did I give you the Raspberry Pi?
ALI (as SOPHIA): Can you show me which buttons to hit?
AUSTIN (as ROSA): Bowmp!
SOPHIA: Beep boop bope.
ROSA: That’s the one!
SOPHIA: There we go.
AUSTIN: All right, so you have the Raspberry Pi. Preeta.
JANINE (as PREETA): Uh, I would like a clarinet. Do we have a clarinet?
JACK: [very serious] No.
AUSTIN: Jack!
[scattered laughter]
(as ROSA): No, we don’t have a clarinet.
JACK: Wait, sorry—
ROSA: We have a toy—but do we have a toy clarinet?
JACK (as TIFFY): Yeah, we have a plastic clarinet.
PREETA: No, that’s terrible.
ROSA: [cross] It sounds good though!
TIFFY: [cross] It’s all we have.
PREETA: No, it’s a toy. I need something I can pose with on my socials.
SOPHIA: Oh, we’ll just spray paint it!
PREETA: [aghast]…No!
SOPHIA: They won’t know. It’s—
PREETA: My mom’s an influencer. Someone will know.
SOPHIA: Just put a filter on it!
PREETA: That’s not how filters work.
ROSA: [cross] Ghosts see through filters also.
SOPHIA: [cross] That is absolutely how filters work.
ART (as YUKI): Put a clarinet filter on.
ROSA: Or just get like a clarinet emoji and put it…
SOPHIA: Ooh!
YUKI: Oh, or do that thing where people look like dogs? [cross] Like their nose bec…
ROSA: [cross] Do the thing where people look like dogs!
YUKI: And then the clarinet’ll look like a dog and then no one’ll be thinking about it because they’ll be like, oh, sweet dog clarinet!
SOPHIA: I think—
PREETA: I’m softblocking all of you unless you find me a real instrument that looks like a clarinet.
TIFFY: I have a flute.
PREETA: I’ll—that’s good, yes.
[JACK stomps and gestures an invisible flute over]
[Laughter]
Fantastic. Thank you.
SOPHIA: Do you even know how to play the flute?
PREETA: No.
SOPHIA: Fine.
PREETA: You blow into it! You blow into it sideways.
ROSA: [cross] That sounds right.
SOPHIA: [cross] [doubtful] Mm.
ROSA: And I’ll be the vocalist! I’ve been trying some new stuff.
PREETA: Is it beeping?
ROSA: I’ve been trying some new stuff.
[Laughter]
TIFFY: One two three four!
ROSA: [cross] Beep badoop! Boop bop boo-oo! Beep beep beep! Beedeep bop bwooah…
SOPHIA: [cross] Beep boop boop boop boop beep boop boop boop boop. Beep boop boop boop boop boop boop boop.
YUKI: Are you singing beep bop…
PREETA: That’s jazz.
ROSA: Yeah, it’s jazz. You’ve heard of scatting.
JACK: I didn’t know Austin could make that noise!
[Laughter]
ROSA: Beeeeooo!
YUKI I thought we were doing screamo!
ROSA: Right, sorry. [cross] [nasally] Baaaamp! Hey baaaaaaamp!
PREETA: [cross] I’m just taking selfies with the flute. Yep.
ROSA: Beebaaaa! Boop!
JANINE: Is this for the bagel thing?
ROSA: Baaaaaaaaaa! Bee boo!
Ghost!
That’s it. That’s our song.
PREETA: [cross] Fantastic.
YUKI: [cross] Why did you say ghost? That’s gonna draw the ghosts!
ROSA: …Oh shit!
SOPHIA: No, cuz everything before that was like morse code or whatever? And I think—
ROSA: It was like a modem sound.
SOPHIA: Yeah. And I think we were saying, “Please get out of summer camp. We wanna have a good time. [cross] What the hell.”
ROSA: [cross] I’m so glad you understand my art.
SOPHIA: [snorts] I try to, Rosa.
ROSA: I put a plus next to your name.
SOPHIA: Aw! Let me know if you want Preeta to help you with your socials.
TIFFY: Can we meet your mum?
PREETA: Uh, she takes appointments.
ROSA: [cross] Like social appointments?
YUKI: [cross] Okay, could—
PREETA: Do you have like a brand of like toothbrush or razor or snacks? Do you sell nuts? Do you want [cross] like placement—
YUKI: [cross] We wear costumes all the time?
PREETA: Uh, [TIFFY: Um.] hair gummy—do you do like hair candy?
YUKI: I’m a dinosaur.
TIFFY: [cross] I’m an eggplant.
ROSA: [cross] Those are costumes?
YUKI: What?
[Pause as ALI struggles not to laugh]
AUSTIN: Okay.
[Laughter]
I think that’s the scene.
JANINE: I think that’s the scene.
AUSTIN: Are you gonna roll the dice?
JACK: Move the card first!
JANINE: Yes.
AUSTIN: Right. [cross] Where—who—
JANINE: [cross] I would like to give the card to Art?
[Pause]
I guess in a roundabout way—[carefully] roundabout way, we yelled together.
AUSTIN: Yeah! [cross] I certainly yelled.
ALI: [cross] [taking water pitcher from JACK] I’m taking my water now, cuz like…
JANINE: I would like to roll the dice. The die.
AUSTIN: Mm-hm.
JANINE: To see where.
JACK: Oh, he’s coming back.
JANINE: He is.
AUSTIN: That is a 5! Watchin TV! Comes home [JANINE: He did—] from his [over stomping] late-night—
JANINE: —like an hour of work. I guess if he’s a contract ghost hunter that makes sense.
AUSTIN: Yeah. You get a call.
JANINE: Yeah. Who you gonna call?
AUSTIN: [amused] Lulu’s dad.
(as ROSA): Hi, Lulu’s dad!
ART (as LULU’S DAD): Hey, how’s it goin.
ROSA: We figured out how to fight ghosts with music.
LULU’S DAD: Oh. Okay!
ALI (as SOPHIA): See? He thinks it’s a good idea!
ROSA: He said it was good.
SOPHIA: Yeah!
JANINE (as PREETA): That’s cuz it was good.
ROSA: What are you watching on TV, Lulu’s dad?
LULU’S DAD: Ghost Hunters.
[Audience laughter]
ROSA: Are you on it?
LULU’S DAD: [smoothly] No! I’m not one of the ghost—[clears throat]
ROSA: Is it real?
LULU’S DAD: [in usual gruff voice] No, I’m not one of the ghost hu—is it real? Of course—I mean. Some of it’s real? I mean. They use a lot of machines, and as you know…
ROSA: [quickly] Machines don’t fight ghosts!
LULU’S DAD: There you go.
SOPHIA: What do you fight ghosts with?
LULU’S DAD: Huh?
SOPHIA: What do you fight ghosts with?
LULU’S DAD: Ingenuity. Chutzpah.
SOPHIA: We have to get some ingenuity…
LULU’S DAD: Tenacity.
ROSA: I don’t know what any of those words mean.
PREETA: [cross] I think they’re brands?
SOPHIA: [cross] Where do the—
LULU’S DAD: [cross] Well, bye!
PREETA: I think they’re clothing brands.
SOPHIA: Preeta, where do they sell Ingenuity? I think I saw an Instagram ad for that the other day.
PREETA: Yeah, they only sell it online, and there’s a really long waitlist, and they won’t let you on the waitlist unless you mail them some of your hair.
AUSTIN: As this conversation is happening, I think Rosa puts on her headphones and drifts off to sleep. I am ending the scene in Lulu’s basement, because when I wake up, I’m already in the car—I don’t know how you loaded me into a car—on our way to Halloween summer camp.
JANINE: Skateboard.
AUSTIN: Skateboarded me. You skateboarded me.
JANINE: Yep.
AUSTIN: All right.
[Pause]
Time to go over a new location.
[Austin pages the book]
That’s equally pretty. That’s not it. [tsks]
JANINE: That’s also equally pretty.
AUSTIN: It’s very pretty. Oh, here we go.
[Shows map to camera, a watercolor of a green forested area scattered with a few brick buildings and a dirt road]
[clears throat] Boom. It’s very pretty.
JACK: Camp S—S…[cross] Summer?
AUSTIN: [cross] Summertime.
ALI: Oh, new notes!
JACK: Summertime? Hm!
AUSTIN: Uh, do you wanna—
JACK: That’s the wrong dang season!
AUSTIN: Well, like I said, it’s Halloween Camp Summertime.
JACK: Sure. Okay!
AUSTIN: So! Camp Summertime says. “We’re at summer camp. Put the die on the space marked First Day. At the start of your turn, you may stay on the day, or move to the next day. End the hangout when we’re done with the last day.” The locations are as follows: Jaguar Cabin. Mess Hall. Possum Cabin. Bluebird Cabin. Craft Shack. Amphitheatre. Grandma Stumpy. Campfire. Lake Summertime. And…Skull Mountain.
ALI: [laughing weakly] I can’t…
AUSTIN: Skull Mountain is the last one.
JANINE: That was very fast?
ALI: [laughing] Yeah…
AUSTIN: Jaguar Cabin.
JACK: [cross] Could you do it quicker?
JANINE: [cross] Thank y…
AUSTIN: [fast and rhythmical] Jaguar Cabin, Mess Hell, Craft Shack, Possum Cabin! [ALI: Nooo!] Bluebird Cabin, Amphitheater, Campfire, Grandma Stumpy.
JANINE: Pikachu, Butterfree.
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Skull Mountain.
JACK: I’m gonna go and look at it.
[Pause as JACK heads to the other end of the table to lean over the book]
AUSTIN: Lake Summertime. Do you want me to put it up and you can look at it there?
JACK: It’s really far away.
AUSTIN: Okay. Campfire. Grandma Stumpy, which is like a stump. Like a big stump. The various cabins: Jaguar, Bluebird, and Possum.
JACK: Possam.
AUSTIN: Possam! This actually doesn’t spell—Possum is spelled wrong, so.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: How many of total things are there? I wanna know if I have them all.
JACK: Ten!
ART: All right, I’m good.
ALI: [trying not to laugh] Do you wanna just hand the book to them?
AUSTIN: No!
ALI: [choked with laughter] ‘Kay.
AUSTIN: We’re good. They don’t have to get up—did everybody get ‘em?
ART: [cross] Austin does not care about the people on this end of the table—
JANINE: [cross] I have nine. What about nine?
ART: —[cross] and it’s very obvious.
ALI: [cross] I missed so many of them.
JANINE: We’ll just—we’ll just ignore whatever we missed.
ALI: Yeah, there’s just some that I can’t go to.
JANINE: This is our map.
[AUSTIN hands JANINE and ALI the book]
ALI: [giggling] Thank you!
JANINE: Oh, craft shack!
AUSTIN: Craft shack!
JANINE: I [ALI: Ohh!] thought you said crab shack!
AUSTIN: [cross] Crab shack.
ART: [cross] Crab shack.
ALI: [cross] Ooh, let’s go to the craft shack!
JANINE: I was like, this is a rich kid camp!
AUSTIN: Ah!
ALI: Oh, mess hall like food—okay.
AUSTIN: Like food.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah, Jaguar Cabin.
JANINE: What did you think it was?
AUSTIN: Bluebird Cabin.
ALI: I don’t know…
AUSTIN: Possum Cabin.
ART: Aw, last one off the bus gets Possum Cabin.
AUSTIN: Yeah, Possum Cabin rules.
ALI: [intrigued] Grandma Stumpy…
ART: Rabbit troop sucks!
AUSTIN: Rabbit troop sucks, yeah. Can we get them to come do this show with us? They Might Be Giants, they could do that cool song?
ART: Oh.
AUSTIN: No? Probably not? Too late?
ART: Maybe.
AUSTIN: Maybe they’re here.
ART: I think—mm. I don’t wanna—never mind.
[ALI offers JACK book]
JACK: I think I’m good, yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JANINE: Okay!
JACK: I can—I can—
ART: I was gonna say I think like we’re kind of like, they’re on the way down and we’re on the way up, I think we’re about to cross They Might Be Giants? But if they hear me say that they’re not gonna do this.
AUSTIN: [taking the book back] They’re never gonna work with us.
ALI: [cross] Oh, we have to do another…
JACK: [cross] You just said that into a camera. [laughs]
ART: Mm-hm!
JANINE: We have to do a charm scene!
ALI: We have to do a charm scene.
JANINE: [cross] Yeah!
AUSTIN: [cross] We do have to do a charm scene, good catch. Um, so! Charm scenes. Three things happen. Nope, that’s not true. One thing happens?
JACK: Mm-hm!
JANINE: One thing happens.
AUSTIN: [cross] Two things happen!
ART: [cross] One of three things happens five times.
ALI: [cross] Yeah. You have three choices.
AUSTIN: So. “End the hangout, you close the book: when a hangout ends, close the book.” Pretend we did that. “Play a charm scene: take turns playing a charm scene. When it’s your turn, you may either gift a charm, get a charm, or give up a charm.” Um! As a reminder, my charms currently are toolbox and turtle, and I am gonna give a new charm to someone. Uh, I’m going to give…I’m going to give this toolbox—this other different golden toolbox, to Sophia?
ALI: Ooh! Thank you!
AUSTIN: Because it represents the DIY chiptune box I gave you.
ALI: Perfecto.
AUSTIN: And like your interest in my art.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Thank you. Uh. Preeta!
JANINE: Um.
AUSTIN: Whole mess of charms over here, [JANINE: Yeah.] that I’m gonna push into the screen. So [JANINE: Yeah…] people can see them.
JANINE: Uh, I wanna give popcorn to—who was watching—wait, was that—were you watching Master—was it Master Chef?
ALI: Top Chef.
JANINE: Top Chef. It seems [ALI: It’s fine.] kind of skewed to just fill up your charm bracelet and ignore everyone else.
AUSTIN: It happens!
JANINE: [laughs] It does. Um.…But I would like to give Sophia the popcorn because I learned through ambient listening that that’s a good show. [cross] That’s worth your time, you know, yeah.
ALI: [cross] It is. It really is.
JANINE: Cooking TV’s come a long way.
ALI: [laughs] Uh—oh! Oh. [laughs more]
AUSTIN: Thank you.
[JACK gets up and gives something to AUSTIN]
[JACK and ART laugh]
ALI: Oh my god…
AUSTIN: What would you like to give, Sophia?
ALI: Um, actually, yeah, while you’re over there, can you grab the rose charm for yourself? I really—
JACK: For me?
ALI: Yeah.
JACK: Sure!
ALI: I really need your ladybug to talk to this ladybug ghost.
AUSTIN: So you’re like—plying the ladybug with a rose?
ALI: No! They’ll hang out on it!
AUSTIN: Ohh! That’s a cool place for a hangout.
ALI: Yeah, maybe they can dish it out, talk about some ladybug stuff, really not ruin my summer camp?
ART: Halloween camp.
ALI and AUSTIN: Halloween summer camp.
JACK: I’m giv—[AUSTIN: Tiffy!] I’m giving up my ladybird.
[AUSTIN gasps]
Cuz it has died. [laughs]
[Laughter]
JANINE: [reproachful] Oh!
JACK: I have not told anybody. I opened the box.
[moment of silence]
ALI: [very quiet] Do you want me to put it back…? Jack was just gonna drop this charm on the floor!
[AUSTIN laughs]
Or put it in your pocket, what was that move?
JACK: I think I was gonna put it in my pocket.
ALI: [laughing] Okay…
AUSTIN: Put the dead ladybug in your pocket, I guess.
JANINE: Just pulls out a lighter.
AUSTIN: Sophia? Or not Sophia, sorry, Yuki! [ART starts to walk over] Oh, Yuki’s coming over here to look at the charms.
JACK: [amused] This piece of paper of Art’s just has the No Talking symbol and nothing else. I was like, I’m gonna read some notes! And there were no notes.
ALI: Art, again.
ART: The notes are on the other page.
ALI: [amused noise] Yeah, Art is the most professional of all of us. A notes page, and an in-world page.
JACK: Mmm, yeah, that is true.
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: Yeah, okay. That’s what you took, huh?
[Pause as ART sits down and shows a new charm]
[ALI gasps]
ART: I took this ladybug. [laughs]
Don’t worry about it.
[Laughter]
ALI: [amused] I’m a little worried! I’m a little worried.
AUSTIN: What’s the—
JACK: This is…
AUSTIN: Where did—ho—
JACK: He took it! It’s Art’s now!
AUSTIN: Where’d you get the ladybug?
ART: Huh?
AUSTIN: Okay.
[Laughter]
Skull Mountain.
ART: Oh, I just want—I guess I have to say what it meant—what I [AUSTIN: Yeah.] like about myself. What I like about myself is that I am possessed by the ghost of a ladybug.
[Laughter and clapping]
AUSTIN: …Aaall right!
All right! Let’s start a new scene! Sound good? We are starting on day one of camp…of Halloween Camp Summertime camp. Halloween Camp Summertime camp. That makes sense. Uh, I think it is the—we’ve all gotten off our either buses or we’ve all been driven by Lulu’s dad. Lulu’s dad drove us to Camp—to Halloween Summertime camp.
ART: [laughing] But Lulu didn’t come?
AUSTIN: Lulu knows better!
[in Lulu’s dad-esque voice] I wouldn’t let my daughter [cross] go to anything like that!
ART (as LULU’S DAD): [cross] Well, I wouldn’t let my daughter go to this camp, but you kids have fun!
[AUSTIN laughs]
Well, bye!
[Stomps]
AUSTIN: He drove here! Okay…
JANINE: [cross] Flintstones car.
AUSTIN: [cross] And we’re gonna—uh, we’re gonna start at the campfire, and I’m inviting everyone, because it’s opening ceremonies. Does everyone wanna come?
ALI: Yeah!
JANINE: Yeah!
[Long pause as AUSTIN sets down character tokens]
[1:15:00]
AUSTIN: All right. Everyone’s at the campfire. And the card I’m playing is “Share a wish.”
[JANINE gasps]
Because! We—everyone like shows up, there’s camp counselors. One of them is, weirdly, Lulu’s uncle [laughs] who is Lulu’s dad’s business partner? Also into the ghost thing, I guess. And our—they explain to us that the way that you kick off Halloween summer camp right is that everyone tosses a handful of sand into the magical fire, like that show, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and then it goes like [fire sparking foley] bwwwooo! and when it goes like [fire sparking foley] bwwwooooo! everyone has to say what they wish for. And Rosa goes first, and steps forward and throws in a bunch of dust and says
(as ROSA): [calmly] I would not like to be eaten by a ghost.
And then steps back and sits on a log.
JANINE (as PREETA): I would like to be verified.
[Laughter]
[AUSTIN makes a fire noise again]
ALI (as SOPHIA): I would like to be the Tony Stark of skateboarding.
Without all the like, war. [laughs] Weird stuff.
ROSA: No war!
SOPHIA: [agreeably] No war!
JACK (as TIFFY): I would like…I would like my ladybug to be safe and well.
ART (as YUKI/GHOST): [high pitched voice] Aphids! [clears throat] I mean, a fun time! A fun time.
[Laughter]
TIFFY: Did you just say aphids?
ROSA: Did you say—
YUKI/GHOST: I did not. I said, a fun time.
[AUSTIN (as ROSA) sighs]
TIFFY: I think she just said aphids.
YUKI/GHOST: [noncommital] Mm!
SOPHIA: Aphids…
ROSA: Well, um. Which cabin did you all get assigned to?
[Pause as everyone tries to remember the cabin names]
SOPHIA: B. [laughs quietly]
ROSA: It’s Jaguar, it’s Possum, and it’s the third—Bluebird.
SOPHIA: [cross] Blue—
PREETA: [cross] B is Bluebird!
SOPHIA: Yeah. Bluebird.
PREETA: Also Bluebird.
ROSA: …I’m in Possum Cabin.
SOPHIA: I hate possums.
PREETA: I’m so sorry for you.
YUKI: We’re both also in Possum Cabin.
ROSA: [anxious] I wonder if I can change which cabin I’m in.
TIFFY: This feels rude at this point.
ROSA: Okay…
YUKI: I mean, the three of us are half of the people in the cabin!
AUSTIN: There’s six people in the cabin?
ART: Yeah, [A: Okay.] it’s a six-person cabin.
AUSTIN: Okay. So I think the like camp counselors, including Lulu’s uncle, just kind of like lead us over one by one to each cabin and they explain the history of each cabin. There’s Jaguar Cabin, which none of us are in, and that’s famous for its warriors. [amused huff] All the warriors go there. And then they take the rest to the Bluebird Cabin and you learn that the Bluebird Cabin is where all the witches and warlocks have been. And then they take everyone to the Possum Cabin, and they say,
(as CAMP COUNSELOR): [blue-collar New Jersey accent] And this one, uh…yeah, had some possums in it!
[JANINE laughs]
It uh…it’s all cleaned out now, don’t worry about it. Uh, just—stay clean, kids!
PREETA: Wear socks.
CAMP COUNSELOR: Yeah, always wear socks.
ART: Possum cabin sucks!
CAMP COUNSELOR: [very seriously] Always wear socks!
No, look at me! Always. Wear socks. Okay.
YUKI: Hey, is there a possum in here?
CAMP COUNSELOR: Could be! Who could say?
[laughs]
[ART circles fists in a running away gesture]
Yeah. Well, bye! [thumps fists on the table a bunch]
AUSTIN: Uh, that’s my scene.
[cross] And we’re back around to Yuki!
JACK: [cross] Is it your scene?
AUSTIN: Oh, I have to give this card! Uh.
JACK: And we move the die, right?
AUSTIN: Yeah, we do move—well, no, wait, choose to move the die if we want to at the beginning of the scene or the end of the scene? I’ll look again.
JACK: We can also—
AUSTIN: Uh, “Share a wish” to you! To Preeta.
JANINE: Thank you.
JACK: [cross] We can also draw new cards, right?
AUSTIN: [cross] Because you shared a wish, [ART: Oh yeah—] which was to be famous. [cross] Uh, verified.
JANINE: [cross] It was to be verified.
ART: If you have less than three cards, you need to draw up?
AUSTIN: I did not.
ALI: [cross] Yeah.
JANINE: [cross] Ah.
JACK: Can I have a card, please?
AUSTIN: Yes! Pass a card down!
“At the start of your turn, you may stay on that day or move to the next day.” So! Yuki.
ART: I’m gonna move to the next day.
AUSTIN: All right, so that’s like—that first day is just like check-ins and napping, and like getting a tour of the place? Okay.
JACK: Abject fear.
AUSTIN: Day two. Possum [laughs] Possum Camp. Where we goin?
[ART picks up JACK’s notes and looks at them for some time]
ART: Let’s go to Grandma Stumpy?
AUSTIN: Who’s there, what card are you playing?
ART: I’m gonna be playing “Make up a holiday?”
AUSTIN: Ooh!
ALI: Ooh!
ART: And just—I guess Possum Cabin and anyone else who cares to come.
ALI (as SOPHIA): [breezy] I’m busy.
JANINE (as PREETA): I don’t wanna go to a place called Grandma Stumpy.
SOPHIA: Right?
PREETA: It’s a little—
ART (as YUKI): It’s just a tree stump, it’s—
SOPHIA: Come on!
PREETA: Exactly, it’s just a tree stump.
YUKI: Wow…
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN (as ROSA): Hey, Possum Camp. Possum Cabin.
JACK (as TIFFY): Hi, Possum Cabin.
You have to say it too.
ROSA: You have to say it.
YUKI: …Hi, Possum Cabin.
ROSA: Po—okay, one more time. [cross] Hi, Possum Cabin!
YUKI: [cross] Hi, Possum Cabin!
TIFFY: [cross] Hi, Possum Cabin!
[Laughter]
ROSA: Thank you.
AUSTIN: [sighs] So what are we doing?
ART: Um.
AUSTIN: Set the scene. It’s sunrise.
[Laughter]
Beautiful. [ART snorts] Camp Halloween Summertime. Camp.
ART: [chuckles] Yeah, it’s Halloween summer camp, it’s…
AUSTIN: The birds are chirping, the sun is rising over Skull Mountain. [laughs] It’s a beautiful summer day here in October.
ART: Yuki is very focused on the dew on the grass, [cross] looking for…
AUSTIN: [cross] Mm. Right. Right!
ART: Nothing in particular!
AUSTIN: Right!
[Quiet laughter]
YUKI: [quiet amused noises] I was just thinking we needed something to make this whole day special for us.
ROSA: I mean, it’s already Halloween summer camp, how much more special could it get?
TIFFY: Quite a bit.
ROSA: [cross] How?
YUKI: [cross] Yeah.
Um. You know, what if this was Possum Day?
ROSA: What do you do on Possum Day?
YUKI: [confident] What don’t you do on Possum Day!
[Laughter]
ROSA: All right.
YUKI: You can pretend to be dead. You can…
ROSA: That was the first one? Was pretend to be dead?
ALI: Like possums do!
YUKI: You could…climb a tree, I think?
AUSTIN: Oh, things possums do!
JANINE: Eat some garbage.
ALI: Do we have to google possums?
AUSTIN: I’m—okay.
YUKI: You can be like kind of less cute than a raccoon.
AUSTIN: Whoa, slow down.
What do possums do? Rosa pulls out her like—it’s not an iPhone. It’s like a PDA. It’s like an old like a…
JANINE: An Apple Newton?
ART: Like a Palm Pilot?
AUSTIN: Like a Palm Pilot!
JANINE: [amused] Okay.
AUSTIN: Like a Palm Pilot. And goes into some sort of animal app.
Don’t—
JACK: You learning anything there, Austin?
ROSA: I’m looking at possums. Ten things. I didn’t know. About them. One, natural immunity. Possums are immune to rabies. That’s one thing we can do, is be immune to rabies.
YUKI: All right, let’s go mess with some rabid animals!
ROSA: Two, poison control. Possums have—
AUSTIN: Jack, cover your ears!
[JACK covers their ears]
(as ROSA): [whispering] Possums have super powers against snakes! They have partial or total immunity to the venom produced by rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and other pit vipers.
All right, you’re good now. Jack? [JACK slowly uncovers] Jack, you’re good!
(as ROSA): They’re good! We’re good—possums are good!
Omnivores galore. We eat everything. Carrion.
YUKI: All right, that’s another thing we can do!
ROSA: Rodents. [amused] Slugs.
YUKI: [doubting] Mm. What if we toned it down just a little bit?
ROSA: [amazed] They have an unusually high need for calcium which incites them to eat the skeletons of rodents!
[amused] They’re the sanitation workers of the wild!
[JANINE laughs]
Good. Um. Possum has opposable thumbs, but “thumbs” is in quotation marks. Which.
TIFFY: Yeah, we have them.
ALI: Do they—
ROSA: They’re on their rear feet.
ALI: Do they also do the sugar thing where they’re like, I want some sugar! I’m gonna clean it! Oh no!
AUSTIN: What—what? [cross] What?
ART: [cross] What?
ALI: Raccoons do that! Yeah.
AUSTIN: I—
ALI: You haven’t seen that?
AUSTIN: No!
ALI: Oh, it’s so sad!
JANINE: It’s sad. You don’t wanna see it.
AUSTIN: I’m not gonna watch this!
ALI: Oh right, you don’t like—[AUSTIN: I hate—] you don’t like animals in distress.
JANINE: Unrelated, though, do we wanna play Fall of Magic again anytime soon, [ALI and AUSTIN laugh] cuz I’m really liking the sound of this.
ROSA: Uh, the mouth of a possum holds an impressive 50 teeth!
ALI: [cross] I literally hate possums.
TIFFY: [cross] Yeah, I have that.
ROSA: Okay. Okay.
TIFFY: And so does Yuki.
YUKI: Yeah, we already have 50 teeth.
ROSA: [uncomfortable] Mm.
TIFFY: Combined.
YUKI: Arrrrgh!
ROSA: And the last one that I have is when threatened, possums run, growl, belch, urinate, and defecate, and when all else fails, they play possum. So I think—
TIFFY: That—Yuki also does that.
ROSA: On Possum Day, we all have to like pretend to be possums?
AUSTIN: And Rosa really leans into this last one, is like,
(as ROSA): Burp! Burp! And is like basically doing a T-rex that just burps nonstop.
Possum! Possum! [cross] Burp! Burp!
YUKI: [cross] I don’t have rabies!
ROSA: Burp!
[Laughter]
Burp! Burp! Bop!
JANINE (as PREETA): This is why we didn’t go to Grandma Stumpy.
ALI (as SOPHIA): Yeah…
PREETA: This is exactly why.
SOPHIA: Burp! Possum Day is here!
ALI: Yeah…
ROSA: [sing-song] Possum Day is here! Possum Day is here! Possum Day is here! Burp! Burp! Burp! Burp!
AUSTIN: Possum Day’s great. [cross] I don’t know what—everyone else’s problem is.
ART: [cross] Possum Day is great. I think I’m ready to call scene here.
AUSTIN: [laughs] Yeah, same. All right! Who do you wanna give this card to?
ART: Uh, you can have that one!
AUSTIN: Thank you.
ART: You got it!
AUSTIN: Tiffy! Where do you wanna go? Also, do you wanna advance the day?
JACK: Yes.
AUSTIN: Uh-oh. So, next day, it’s rainy. Just for continuity’s sake, Sophia and Preeta, what did you do yesterday?
ALI: [sly] I’ll be telling you in the next scene.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: When it’s rainy, do we have to be inside, or can we be outside [cross] so long as it’s informed by the rain?
AUSTIN: [cross] It doesn’t say that, so. Yeah, I think we can deal with the rain.
JACK: We are going to—I am going to go to the craft shack with Preeta.
AUSTIN: Ooh.
JACK: We’re gonna make a gift for Lulu’s dad.
[ALI laughs]
AUSTIN: Ooh!
JACK (as TIFFY): And you said that your mum did all that sort of stuff with like…what, like craft stuff?
JANINE (as PREETA): I mean, I said she was an influencer.
TIFFY: And she did like craft things?
PREETA: I mean…she says…if anyone else asks, yes, but mostly she just like goes and…she really likes those Rae Dunn mugs? So she…we’ll just say yeah.
TIFFY: Preeta. What do you make the man who has everything?
PREETA: …Slime?
TIFFY: Would that remind him of ectoplasm? Is this kind of like a…this is kind of like his day off, and we don’t wanna give him ectoplasm.
PREETA: Yeah, it is kinda like a work thing. It’s like work—slime would make him think of work. You could do like a cloud slime, or like a butter slime, cuz that’s not like ectoplasm.
TIFFY: So we’re still on slime.
[AUSTIN and ART laugh]
PREETA: Um, you know, a lot of people are getting really into like diamond painting? We could give him a diamond painting.
TIFFY: What is a diamond painting??
PREETA: It’s like a paint by number but with rhinestones—oh, what about soap carving? Soap carving videos get a lot of hits.
TIFFY: [determined] Yes.
AUSTIN: [laughing] What is the card you played?
ALI: Oh! Uh, make a gift together.
AUSTIN: Oh, okay.
ALI: Sorry.
JACK: Uh, we are attempting to carve soap in the rain, in a craft shack, which if you look at the picture is kind of not really—it’s like this wind [cross] blowing rain sideways into the craft shack.
AUSTIN: [cross] Yeah. It’s truly a shack.
JACK: The soap is coming apart in our hands.
(as TIFFY): What are you carving your soap into the shape of, Preeta?
PREETA: I’m carving it into the shape of…a…sugar bear. You know, like a gummy bear. Like a…
TIFFY: Oh yeah! Sure.
PREETA: Like the expensive ones, not the cheap ones.
TIFFY: I’m carving mine into the shape of a gun.
[Laughter]
PREETA: …Oh. That’s good!
AUSTIN: Don’t hold anybody up [cross] with that in the rain.
ART: [cross] You doing all right?
JACK: Mm?
ART: You doin all right?
TIFFY: I’m very frightened of the ghost.
ART: Oh, okay.
PREETA: They’re not scared of soap.
AUSTIN: Or guns!
ART: Or guns.
PREETA: A gun is a machine.
TIFFY: Mm-hm!
AUSTIN: A gun is a machine.
PREETA: It’s not even a simple machine, it’s an actual machine.
TIFFY: Preeta, do you believe in all of this? In all of this…crap? All of this ghost stuff?
PREETA: I kind of would—no. I think it would be cool if it was real, though, because I—
TIFFY: No it wouldn’t!
PREETA: I—No, hear me out! I bet if one of us saw a ghost, and like got our phone out and took a picture. That’s [AUSTIN: Right. Right!] millions of followers. [cross] You’re famous overnight.
TIFFY: [cross] [distressed] Why do you care about this so much?
PREETA: Sorry, what?
TIFFY: [even more distressed] Why do you care about this so much?
PREETA: What else am I gonna do? I don’t wanna be—you know, I could be a doctor, I guess. But…[over friends’ laughter] I feel like the shelf life is really—
I feel like the shelf life is really short on that. [cross] Compared to influencing.
ART: [cross] It’s Doctor Influencer.
TIFFY: No, I see where you’re coming from.
PREETA: My mom did real estate, and she was very unhappy. Very unhappy. [TIFFY: She is.] And then she became an influencer and now she smiles all the time.
ALI (as SOPHIA): I think you could get your doctorate in influencing, though. You’re really good at it.
PREETA: Also, it is 2018, that’s a good point.
TIFFY: When you make it, please don’t forget about me.
PREETA: Are you gonna keep wearing that outfit?
TIFFY: Yes.
PREETA: I don’t think I could ever forget about you, then.
[AUSTIN laughs]
TIFFY: [pleased] Thank you, Preeta!
PREETA: Okay.
TIFFY: That meant a lot. My soap is disintegrating.
PREETA: Yeah, it’ll do that.
JACK: Uh, I think that’s scene.
AUSTIN: Okay! Who do you give the card to?
JACK: Uh, I’m gonna—
[1:30:00]
—give it to…I’m gonna give it to Yuki.
AUSTIN: Pass it down! Sophia, where we goin? Also, are you advancing the day? Or is it still rainy?
ALI: No. It’s still raining.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI: Everyone receives a Facebook invite. Mandatory meeting at Lake Summertime.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI (as SOPHIA): 8 pm, after dinner. Bring your leftover lemonade.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): What? My leftover…
SOPHIA: Your leftover lemonade?
ROSA: I drank it all!
SOPHIA: Well, get some more!
ROSA: [resigned] Okay.
JANINE (as PREETA): I don’t use Facebook?
AUSTIN: [muttering] Oh my god.
PREETA: It’s for olds.
[ART laughs]
SOPHIA: Facebook’s for old people now?
PREETA: [amused] It’s—I’m sorry!
SOPHIA: But where am I gonna invite people to parties?
PREETA: You know, a lot of people are into stationary now. [cross] Cuz you can take a picture of—
SOPHIA: [cross] I didn’t bring stationary!
PREETA: You can—it’s like paper, so you can make it out of trees.
AUSTIN: Everyone gets wet paper that says [laughing] “Meet me by Lake Summertime.”
ALI: [laughs] Special guest. Tiffy or Lizzy? I keep—I realize I wrote it down wrong. [cross] Your character’s name.
JANINE: [cross] It’s Tiffy.
AUSTIN: This whole game?! It’s Tiffy!
ALI: Okay. Tiffy. Okay. I’m so—I wrote it down wrong! [laughs] Special guests Tiffy and Tiffy’s ladybug.
AUSTIN: Oh, no one knows! Right.
ALI: No one knows.
ART: Well, kind of right.
ALI: We’re gonna be sharing a snack together.
AUSTIN: What—oh, a snack. Thought you said a sack.
ALI: [amused] Sophia’s waiting for everybody by like a bundle of like honeysuckle flowers? [AUSTIN: Ooh.] I don’t know if you guys were like around those growing up but it’s like a tiny white flower, then you pull out the stem and like a single like golden jewel of like [cross] flower juice—
AUSTIN: [cross] It’s so good.
ALI: —it’s so good. [laughs] Which comes out of it.
AUSTIN: And you eat it.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): That’s the snack.
ALI (as SOPHIA): Well, wait. Everybody [AUSTIN: Oh.] got the lemonade, right?
ROSA: Yeah.
SOPHIA: Okay.
ROSA: Wait, did we?
SOPHIA: [gritted teeth] Everybody bought the lemonade, right.
ROSA: Lemonade. [holds up cup] Lemonade check!
[Friends all hold up their cups of water]
Lemonade check secure.
SOPHIA: We’re making a ghost antidote.
ROSA: [gasps] How do you make a ghost antidote?
SOPHIA: Okay. Half a cup of lemonade. A minute of rainwater.
JANINE (as PREETA): A teaspoon of Borax.
SOPHIA: No! We’ll die!
ROSA: Lulu’s dad said no machines!
[Laughter]
JACK (as TIFFY): I think she’s trying to make slime again. She kept going on [AUSTIN laughs loudly] about it at that craft shack.
[Audience laughter]
ROSA: [claps] Is that what that is—that is how you make slime! [laughs]
SOPHIA: That is—yeah, that is how you make slime.
PREETA: You can use contact lens solution, but. Yeah.
[ALI laughs]
ROSA: What’s the third thing?
SOPHIA: Half a cup of lemon water. A minute of rainwater. Two droplets of honeysuckle flower. And then, um, Tiffy? We need your ladybug to like bless it, you know how priests do?
[ART knocks empty plastic cup out of JACK’s hands and onto the floor]
[ALI sputters with laughter]
TIFFY: [a mournful shout] My ladybug is dead!
SOPHIA: Yuki!
ROSA: Tiffy, what—
SOPHIA: Why it—
TIFFY: [upset] I opened the box and the ladybug is dead!
ROSA: Now we’re super haunted.
SOPHIA: Now we’re double haunted!
ART (as YUKI): [cross] No, probably not.
SOPHIA: [cross] And you lied!
ROSA: [cross] Why didn’t you tell us that your ladybug was dead?!
PREETA: You should have kept the box closed because I read a book that says it would have been alive and also dead if you had.
YUKI: No, that’s not…
TIFFY: [upset] I buried it! I was going to tell you!
SOPHIA: Where’s it buried?
ROSA: We have to go get it back.
TIFFY: It’s back at Lulu’s dad’s house. It died that ni—
[ART hands JACK a new cup]
JACK: —thank you.
[Laughter]
JACK: [cross] Can we do this again?
ROSA: [cross] How are we supposed to get the ghost antidote now?
SOPHIA: Does that mean there’s two ladybug ghosts? [ROSA: At least!] What are we up to now, nine? This whole place is riddled with ghosts!
YUKI: Nah!
SOPHIA: We’re like Lulu’s dad!
YUKI: I bet it’s not.
[Noise from outside hall]
SOPHIA: This is a ghost summer camp now. Great. My Halloween summer camp is now for ghosts!
TIFFY: We could hold another [first syllable rhymes with say] seance.
ROSA: A [first syllable rhymes with sea/see] seance!
TIFFY: A [sea/see] seance. [cross] We could hold another [sea/see] seance.
ROSA: [cross] To see all the ghosts.
TIFFY: [cross] And get my dead ladybug.
SOPHIA: No, [cross] it’s gonna be a [say] seance this time, cuz I have some things to say that ghost!
ROSA: How do we do a seance?
SOPHIA: What did we do last time? We held hands, [ROSA: Yeah.] no—don’t do that.
PREETA: [cross] No.
ROSA: [cross] Oh.
ALI: [snorts] Um.
AUSTIN: I’m just drinking the rainwater mixture [ALI: Yeah.] lemonade, also.
ALI: Uh-huh.
PREETA: It’s good there isn’t Borax in that, it’ll make you sick.
SOPHIA: Well, it’s not…it hasn’t been blessed yet. Are there any other bugs?
AUSTIN: [amused] Yes. It’s rainy in the woods, yes. They’re everywhere. They’re hiding.
SOPHIA: Okay. Everybody, take a sip of your water…
[All the friends take a sip]
TIFFY: …Lemonade.
SOPHIA: …Water-lemonade mix.
ROSA: Mm-hm.
SOPHIA: Repeat after me.
ROSA: Okay.
SOPHIA: Dear ghosts.
YUKI, TIFFY, PREETA, ROSA: Dear ghosts.
SOPHIA: [wheezes and recovers] We drink this potion.
YUKI, TIFFY, PREETA, ROSA: We drink this potion.
SOPHIA: So you don’t ruin our summer camp.
YUKI, PREETA, ROSA: So you don’t ruin our summer camp.
TIFFY: So you don’t ruin our summer camp.
SOPHIA: You can hang out here.
YUKI, TIFFY: [cross] You can hang out here.
PREETA: [cross] No, they can’t.
ROSA: [cross] No.
TIFFY: No, actually. No.
ROSA: No!
SOPHIA: You can hang out on Skull Mountain, which we’re not gonna go to.
YUKI, TIFFY, ROSA: You can hang out on Skull Mountain, which we’re not gonna go to.
PREETA: And in Possum Cabin, becaue it’s [cross] icky already.
ROSA: No! No! No!
TIFFY: No!
YUKI: Noooo!
ROSA: That’s where we live! Possum Camp rules.
SOPHIA: Please avoid all cabins and only go to the mess hall after eight, cuz that’s when dinner is over.
YUKI, TIFFY, ROSA: Please avoid all cabins and only go to the mess hall after eight, because that’s when dinner is over.
PREETA: What she said. All that stuff.
ALI: And now everyone don’t do this in real life, cuz we’re all still holding our cups—
SOPHIA: —but pour out your mixture [hesitantly] on these worms. And…because they can move through mud easier…they can communicate with these guys.
ROSA: With the ghosts, yeah. [SOPHIA: Yeah.] Like ghosts—
TIFFY: [cross] Are these worms?
ROSA: [cross]—can move through—ghosts can move through walls, and dirt, and st—
SOPHIA: We’re by a lake!
ROSA: Right?
TIFFY: Oh, okay, fine.
SOPHIA: In the mud!
PREETA: These are underground ghosts?
ROSA: No, but ghosts could move underground! Cuz they can move through stuff.
SOPHIA: Well, you can’t see them right now, so where are they, Preeta? Underground.
PREETA: [dry] Yeah, okay, you got me.
ROSA: That’s right.
AUSTIN: Does it work?
YUKI: [sounds of exertion, arms waving]
TIFFY: Something is happening to my sister!
YUKI: [groaning, waving arms]
[various snorts, hands clawing]
ROSA: Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!
SOPHIA: Yuki, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?
TIFFY: She’s being possessed again.
SOPHIA: She’s turning into a dinosaur for real!
ROSA: Yuki’s doing the possum dance! Burp! Burp! [cross] Arp! Burp! Burp!
SOPHIA: [cross] Beep boop. Beep boop boop.
ROSA: Possum Cabin!
SOPHIA: Preeta—do you have the charger for the Raspberry Pi, I forgot it!
YUKI: [panting]
TIFFY: Yuki, are you okay?
YUKI: [panting]…[laughing] I’d been possessed by a ghost of a ladybug that whole time, [shouting] and none of you noticed!
[Laughter]
SOPHIA: Well, how far are ladybugs from dinosaurs, really?
YUKI: …Really quite far.
PREETA: Nearer or farther than a shark?
YUKI: Way further.
SOPHIA: Oh, cuz they’re both on land.
TIFFY: I noticed.
SOPHIA: [doubtful] Mm…
ROSA: [laughing] Sharks and dinosaurs? Are both on land?
SOPHIA: No, ladybugs and dinosaurs, unlike sharks! Except for land sharks.
PREETA: And the ladybug when it’s flying. Cuz then it’s in the air.
SOPHIA: Yeah, but dinosaurs are really tall.
ROSA: Are you okay, Yuki?
PREETA: Yeah.
ROSA: Did the ghost tell you where it’s going?
YUKI: No, why would it tell me where it’s going?
ROSA: I didn’t know if this was like a conversational ghost relationship!
SOPHIA: Yeah, did you contact it? Like while your—
ROSA: Why did you get possessed by a ladybug ghost?
YUKI: Cuz I was the closest person when it died.
ROSA: …Then where’d it go now…?
[Laughter]
PREETA: I have a very important question. Did it Tweet as you, because I don’t think that’s—I think that’s against the Terms of Service? I don’t think you’re allowed to have someone else tweeting as you?
YUKI: I’m not on Twitter.
PREETA: [judgemental] Why aren’t you on Twitter?
YUKI: It sucks there.
TIFFY: Yeah, it’s bad.
ROSA: It’s the worst.
PREETA: It is. You’re right.
ROSA: I like your Twitter bot, though.
PREETA: Thank you. It’s just slime recipes.
ROSA: @JustSlimeRecipes.
Are we okay?
YUKI: [sighs] I’m—I will be.
SOPHIA: I mean, Yuki, you have the most experience with a ghost at this point. Do you have any pointers for us?
YUKI: I think I have the least experience with a ghost! I was possessed, you were all interacting with it!
ROSA: All right, I think [SOPHIA: Ohh.] now we know there’s one ghost at least. And that means that we can get it with the toys, and we know it’s either Skull Mountain or the mess hall after 8 pm, [cross] after we’ve all finished dinner.
SOPHIA: [cross] Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Yeah.
YUKI: Or conceivably some sort of route in between the two at about like 7:45.
ROSA: It could be going between the—yeah.
YUKI: Yeah.
ROSA: Today, tomorrow, or the next day we have to get this ghost, otherwise Halloween summer camp will be haunted forever.
[pause]
SOPHIA: Ruined forever. I’ll never come back here.
YUKI: You have to come, or you don’t get Christmas!
ROSA: That’s the rule.
SOPHIA: [upset] I love Christmas summer camp!
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: All right.
ALI: Is that scene?
AUSTIN: Scene.
[ALI laughs loudly]
Where do you wanna give this card, of “Share a Snack?”
ALI: Ooh. Um. Um, who’s running on low…? Tiffy, you can take that.
AUSTIN: Give this to Tiffy!
JACK: Lizzy.
ALI: [laughs] F—wait, which one—[wheezes]
JACK: [laughs] I’m Tiffy.
AUSTIN: Preeta! Is that—wait—yeah, Preeta, right?
JANINE: Yes.
AUSTIN: Do you wanna advance the day, or is it still rainy?
JANINE: I think I would like to advance the day.
[Pause]
AUSTIN: Where are we goin? Where are you goin?
JANINE: I’m going up to Skull Mountain.
AUSTIN: [sad] Oh. What’s the card you’re playing?
JANINE: The card I’m playing is “Take a Picture Together.”
AUSTIN: Okay…
ALI: Where is this place…[muttering away from mic]
JANINE (as PREETA): Would anyone like to come take a picture with me on the top of Skull Mountain?
ALI (as SOPHIA): Yes.
AUSTIN (as ROSA): Does this help us get rid of the ghost?
SOPHIA: Wait, is it safe? I don’t want my ankle to get all messed up.
PREETA: I mean, I know some really cool looking ankle braces, so.
SOPHIA: I have to do a skateboard performance at the Halloween dance party!
ROSA: Sophia, could you ride your skateboard down Skull Mountain? That would be sick.
ART (as YUKI): That would be so sick!
ROSA: That would be so sick.
JACK (as TIFFY): Yeah, do it.
YUKI: Do it!
ROSA: Do it!
YUKI: Tony Stark would do it.
ROSA: Tony Stark did it already.
[JANINE laughs]
Tony Stark built this mountain. That’s why it’s called Skull Mountain.
YUKI: Wait, what?
ROSA: He wanted it to be Skrull Mountain, but there’s like a weird licensing thing with [cross] who owns it.
YUKI: [cross] I heard that, [cross] yeah, Fox has that.
ROSA: [cross] Yeah. Yeah, it’s a different thing.
SOPHIA: Preeta, can you pull up that GIF of Captain America I really like so I can skate down this mountain with confidence?
ROSA: Yes.
SOPHIA: Thank you.
ROSA: I’m going.
Who else is going—Yuki, Tiffy, Lizzy?
YUKI: I’m gonna be here when someone skates down a mountain.
ROSA: Okay, so you’re gonna at the bottom or you’re gonna be at the top?
YUKI: I’m gonna be at the bottom.
ROSA: Okay.
TIFFY: I’m gonna be at the top to wish her well.
YUKI: Do a flip!
SOPHIA: …I’m just a novice.
ROSA: That’s how you get to not be one. You level up. By doing a flip.
SOPHIA: Preeta, you’re gonna be recording me, right? Can we go over hashtags?
PREETA: [enthusiastic] Yes. Absolute—we can [cross] absolutely go over hashtags.
SOPHIA: [cross] Okay. Thank you.
AUSTIN: [cross] At the top of Skull Mountain? What’s Skull Mountain look like from the top and from the bottom?
SOPHIA: Well, we were going over hashtags.
AUSTIN: Okay. But I wanna [stammers] [cross] to know what it looks like!
[ALI laughs]
JANINE: [cross] Okay—no, I can do this!
(as PREETA): Um. #Craggy.
AUSTIN: Okay.
PREETA: #Mossy.
AUSTIN: Ooh!
PREETA: #AmazingVista.
SOPHIA: These are more about the mountain than me…
AUSTIN: Okay.
SOPHIA: Are there gonna be hashtags about me, too?
AUSTIN: Yeah!
ART: [cross] Or about skateboarding?
PREETA: [cross] We can do a couple of those.
SOPHIA: Okay. #Skateboard.
ROSA: #Sick.
PREETA: Mm-hm, #skateboard.
SOPHIA: #Coolest. #—
ROSA: But with a K!
SOPHIA: Yeah. #HalloweenSummerCamp.
PREETA: You shouldn’t do #koolest with a K because then people who are searching for coolest [cross] may not find it.
ROSA: [cross] Won’t find it. Right.
PREETA: Yeah.
ROSA: #…Backflip. #Backflips! #Backflipping.
PREETA: That’s good. Even if you don’t do one, people will still come and—still click it, and that’s—yeah. Yeah.
SOPHIA: Thank you. Thank you.
PREETA: That’s what you want. [cross] And then they’ll watch the whole thing cuz they’ll expect a backflip…
SOPHIA: [cross] I really don’t wanna do the flip. I don’t wanna do the flip.
PREETA: I don’t think you should do a flip.
SOPHIA: [cross] Okay, thank you.
PREETA: [cross] I just think we should say that [TIFFY: Do it!] you’re gonna do a flip.
YUKI: Do a flip!
ROSA: Do a flip!
YUKI: Do a flip!
ROSA: Do a flip!
PREETA: If we say you’re gonna do a flip, the watch time will be through the roof.
SOPHIA: Okay.
PREETA: Yeah.
SOPHIA: [cross] I don’t really care about the numbers.
TIFFY: [cross] Why are you doing this?
SOPHIA: So the ghost will know how cool I am.
PREETA: For the ‘gram.
SOPHIA: That too.
ROSA: You have to do—bring one of our toys with you, so that you can do it with the flip, [cross] and that way.
SOPHIA: [cross] Yeah! [pleased] That’s why I’m doing it. I’m gonna hold up my Hess truck and the ghost is gonna go inside.
ROSA: And also you’ll get that sick Hess money.
SOPHIA: Yeah!
YUKI, ROSA, SOPHIA: #HessTruck!
TIFFY: #HessMoney.
ROSA: [laughing] #SponsoredContent.
PREETA: You have to do #Ad now, I think.
ROSA: Okay. #—
PREETA: Yeah.
SOPHIA: Okay.
PREETA: #Ad.
ROSA: #Ad.
SOPHIA: Preeta, thank you.
ROSA: Underline it three times.
PREETA: Any time.
[pause]
ALI: [laughing] Whose scene is it? What card are we playing?
TIFFY: Begin!
JANINE: “Take a Picture Together”.
AUSTIN: “Take a Picture Together.” So, [ALI: Oh—] what’s this—yeah. What does it look like for you?
JANINE: Uh, so I think this is…we all sort of gather in front of an incline, and as Sophia is going down this incline, we are sort of at the bottom. We are waiting. We have a nice gap in the middle so that she can come like right in. And I have it framed so that it is all of us kinda selfie-style, with the gap, and your move is, you have to like skid to a stop right on the—I’ve put a little rock there, which I’m sure won’t be a problem [AUSTIN: Oh no.] with the skateboard. But a little rock so you know exactly where to stop.
ALI: Austin Walker, can you hand me a d6 [cross] so I can see—yeah, mm-hm!
AUSTIN: [cross] Do a 2d6? Do you wanna do a 2d6, maybe? Yeah. +1, you definitely have +1 Cool.
ALI: Okay, yeah yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: It’s 2d6+1.
[Dice gently hitting each other]
[ALI throws]
[Everyone shouts]
AUSTIN: That’s a 6!
ALI: That’s a 5.
AUSTIN: That’s a 4, +1, +1, yeah, that’s a 6.
ALI: That’s a—okay, so that’s a 6. Is that a partial success—which system are we doing?
AUSTIN: No. No, we’re d—
JACK: [cross] 7-9.
AUSTIN: [cross] Right. PBTA.
JANINE: [cross] 7 is partial. 7-9.
AUSTIN: 7-9 is what you want here.
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Does anyone wanna help?
[Laughter]
We allow helping after the fact.
ART: Yeah—
JACK: We’ll help!
ART: Do a flip!
AUSTIN: Do a flip!
JACK: Do a flip!
ART: Do a flip!
AUSTIN: Y’all have to roll—no, they have to roll 2d6 to see if they’re opening themselves up to harm. Let them roll!
[Laughter]
[ALI hands the dice over]
ART: [cross] I’ll roll one, you roll one?
JACK: [cross] I’ll do one—yeah.
ALI: You better open yourself up to some harm.
ART and JACK: Oh!
AUSTIN: What’d they roll, what?
ALI: Two 6s! I hate them! I hate…
AUSTIN: Yo!
[Clapping]
All right, so it’s a partial success now. 7-9.
ALI: Oh, that helps me, that’s right.
I’ve just been upstaged, that’s why I’m upset.
AUSTIN: So what’s it—what does a partial flip success look like?
JACK: You get halfway over.
[1:45:00]
[Laughter]
AUSTIN: Oh no!
ART: I think that’s a full failure!
[ALI crosses arms at wrists and laughs]
AUSTIN: Yeah! Yeah.
ALI: I think that I nail the flip, which is amazing, but I also like don’t get the skid correctly?
AUSTIN: Ohh.
ALI: So! [laughs] Preeta’s arm can see like everybody and then I’m a little bit out of the shot, but it’s actually kinda cool cuz it’s an action shot, yknow, and I’m like fwoop!
AUSTIN: Hmm.
ALI: Like zoom!
AUSTIN: Vloop!
ALI: Vloop!
JACK: Do you get the ghost?
AUSTIN: No, right? That’s a full success. This ghost gets away. We see a lady—we see a giant ladybird flying down to mess hall. Right? Like flying down Skull Mountain?
JANINE: Hang on, I need to roll?
AUSTIN: For—
JANINE: I need 2d6.
AUSTIN: Okay. Pass those down! What are you rolling for?
JANINE: To see if I got the ghost in my picture.
AUSTIN: [over ALI gasping] Good call.
[Rolls dice]
JANINE: [cross] No.
AUSTIN: [cross] No.
[JACK laughs]
Not even close! You got a 4, dog!
JANINE: Yeah…Yeah. That’s fine, that’s fine.
ALI: [amused] The ghost steals your phone.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
[Audience laughter]
The ghost…your phone just shuts down. It bricks. You bricked your phone. [laughs]
JANINE: That’s fair.
AUSTIN: Is that the scene?
JANINE: I think that’s the scene.
AUSTIN: Okay. I think I have one more. Uh, do you wanna advance the day to the last day?
ART: [cross] We probably should.
ALI: [cross] Yeah. Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JANINE: Yeah.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: [cross] All right. So.
ALI: [cross] Yep. We’ve really gotta get this ghost situated.
AUSTIN: It is the midnight of the last—it is like the midnight transferring over to the last day. We are supposed to be in our cabins and we are not. We are outside of the mess hall. And I am here to “Share an Apology” to the ladybug ghost.
ALI: Aww.
ART: Aww.
AUSTIN: Who’s here with me?
JANINE: Oh wait, I have to give that card to somone.
AUSTIN: Yeah, give that card to someone, sorry.
JANINE: I’ll give that to you!
ALI: Thank you!
AUSTIN: Is everyone here? To share an apology?
JACK: Yeah, we are.
ALI: [cross] Yeah.
JANINE: [cross] Yes.
AUSTIN: Okay.
[Pause]
(as ROSA): All right. We’ve all gathered here at the mess hall, and we all have our toys, and—
JANINE (as PREETA): And our lemonade.
ROSA: —the lemonade. I drank mine. And…can you pass me the lemonade, please?
ALI (as SOPHIA): Give me one second!
ROSA: I’m just saying afterwards!
SOPHIA: [laughing] Okay!
ROSA: Thank you. And…I think it’s time to confront the ghost. Does anyone have the key to the mess hall?
SOPHIA: My mom taught me how to pick locks?
PREETA, ROSA: [ragged unison] Your mom’s so cool!
SOPHIA: [cross] Yeah.
JACK (as TIFFY): [cross] Your mom is so cool.
SOPHIA: Yeah.
ART (as YUKI): That’s awesome!
SOPHIA: Well, she said in case I’m ever kidnapped or whatever you can take a credit card and like put it in and then…[cross] I’ll show you.
ART: [cross] You have a credit card?!
SOPHIA: No, it’s a fake one.
ROSA: What’s it say?
YUKI: Just for lockpicking?
SOPHIA: Yeah!
[Laughter]
ROSA: Your mom’s so cool.
YUKI: [cross] So cool.
SOPHIA: [cross] I know. I know.
ROSA: So cool.
AUSTIN: All right. You pick the lock. We go to the mess—
ALI: [laughing] Should I roll the dice again?
AUSTIN: No. You just pick the lock!
[JACK laughs]
It’s not interest—you know. You get it. Roll dice or say yes. So, say yes. Door opens. Inside, it is—there’s creepy music playing inside, because the janitor is here like mopping the floor and stuff, and listening to like a “Halloween Hits?” It’s like…it’s—
ART: It’s the Monster Mash? [cross] It’s the Monster Mash!
AUSTIN: [cross] It’s the Monster Mash. It’s creepy songs!
ALI: Is it a graveyard smash? [cross] Okay. Just checking.
AUSTIN: [accepting] [cross] It’s a graveyard smash. Yeah.
ART: How quickly did it catch on?
AUSTIN: I’m not doing this. Uh.
[Audience laughter]
And I have my Palm Pilot up, and I have it on the brightness setting, all the way up. It’s still not a flashlight, but there’s a little blue light.
(as ROSA): Lady…bug? Ghost? Ladybug ghost? Hello? [whispering] Hello!
[ART chuckles and holds up a paper]
AUSTIN: What have you drawn?
[ALI laughs as ART shows mysterious paper to friends]
I quit! Great.
ART: It caught on in a flash.
AUSTIN: [defeated] I know. I know it caught on in a flash. I know.
(as ROSA): Are you there, ladybug ghost?
JANINE (as PREETA): It might still—oh!
[Stomping]
ALI (as SOPHIA): Oh my god, it’s here. Oh my god, it’s here. Oh my god, it’s here.
ROSA: Okay.
JACK (as TIFFY): [groans loudly] Leave! I—
SOPHIA: What are you here for?
ROSA: We have to say we’re sorry, and that we’re sorry that—
SOPHIA: I’m not apol—mm.
ROSA: Because Tiffy let it die and put it in a box! And didn’t do a big burial funeral thing!
SOPHIA: Yeah, you should have told us. I really liked that ladybug.
ROSA: That ladybug was cool!
SOPHIA: I would have said something at the funeral.
ROSA: That was my favorite part! Of y—it was cool!
[Audience laughter]
You’re cool too!
Anyway, ladybug, I’m sorry! Ladybug, I’m sorry. We should have known that you died and that we should have buried you. We should have had some sort of religious figure, and we should have consecrated the tomb.
SOPHIA: I should have—
TIFFY: [upset] I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye!
SOPHIA: Aww…
TIFFY: Even after you possessed my sister!
ART (as YUKI): I’m sorry I wasn’t good at being possessed.
TIFFY: [cross] It’s okay.
SOPHIA: [cross] You have the time now. [YUKI: What?] Is there anything you’d like to say? Now—yeah!
[Pause]
TIFFY: I found you under a leaf. It was autumn. You were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I didn’t know what you ate [laughing] and that might have been a problem in the long term…
[Laughter]
I miss you. And I’m sorry. And I wish you hadn’t possessed my sister. All right. Do you have anything to say, sister of mine?
YUKI: I knew it was smaller bugs. That’s what you feed a ladybug. But I never told you, cuz I thought it was funny.
[Laughter]
Just all the…silly things you tried to feed that ladybug. So I guess in a way I deserved to be…possessed, I’m sorry I wasn’t a better aunt to you, ladybug.
TIFFY: Sophia, do you have anything that you would like to say to the ladybug?
SOPHIA: Ladybug, I think I’ve been unfair. I didn’t know why you wanted to ruin my—not ruin. Be a part of my Halloween summer camp. I didn’t even ask if maybe there was an alternative ghost summer camp, [ROSA: Mm-hm!] cuz now that I think about it, that sounds kinda sick.
ROSA: That’s super sick…
SOPHIA: You can contact Preeta if you’d like to book me at any point for your Halloween ghost camp. I really liked the time that we spent together…goodbye.
TIFFY: Preeta, do you have anything that you’d like to say to the ghost?
PREETA: I do. Ladybug ghost, I would like to apologize for trying to take your picture without first making you sign a release.
[Laughter, ALI laughs loudly]
It’s not only rude, but it’s—I actually don’t know that it’s illegal, but it is definitely rude. Uh, so I’m sorry. Please fix my phone.
ROSA: [to the tune of the Imperial March] Beep beep beep mm-beedoop beep boop boop.
[laughing] [cross] Beep beep boop…Beep boop boop…
TIFFY: [cross] Rosa, do you have anything that you would like to [cross] say to—Rosa. Rosa. Rosa. Rosa. Rosa, be serious!
SOPHIA: [cross] I hate you. I hate you.
ROSA: [cross] Beep boop boop…Beep boop beep boop boop-boop-boop-boop beep boop! Beep boop boop-boop-boop-boop [cross] beep boop…
ART: [cross] Austin, we’re gonna get a copyright [cross] strike on this one.
ALI: [cross] Yeah, SHUX has to put this on Youtube!
ART: That’s from Star Wars!
AUSTIN: Don’t tell them!
[Laughter]
They won’t kn—[whispers] they won’t—[whisper-shouts] they won’t know!
[ALI laughs loudly]
ART: It’s all algorithms now!
ROSA: I’m sorry, ladybug. We’re all sorry. Go in peace. May the peace be with you. And also with you.
ALI: [laughing] Why do you always say that?!
TIFFY: Ladybug, if you remain in this mess hall, give us a sign, and yet [loudly] if you are free! Remain silent.
[Pause, relative silence]
ROSA: I think we’re okay.
SOPHIA: I think so.
TIFFY: I think the ladybug is gone.
ROSA: Can I sleep in someone else’s cabin tonight?
SOPHIA: Tiffy, how are you feeling?
[Pause]
JANINE: [laughing] That was a no, I guess?
AUSTIN: That was a no. That was a hard no!
[Laughter]
TIFFY: You can sleep in our cabin, Rosa.
PREETA: [cross] You’re already—
ROSA: [cross] That’s—that’s the cabin I’m already in! It’s spooky!
SOPHIA: I mean, you can come but it’s kind of Tiffy’s whole day. They lost their ladybug.
TIFFY: I’ve moved on.
SOPHIA: Okay.
YUKI: …So everyone should come back to Possum Cabin.
SOPHIA: No, possums are weird. Blue jays own.
YUKI: They’re not immune to rabies.
ROSA: [cross] Or snakes.
SOPHIA: [cross] They don’t need to be, they can fly!
AUSTIN: [sighs] I think we just fade out on arguing over which camp is best?
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN and ALI: Yeah.
JANINE: That sounds about right.
AUSTIN: In the end, it’s Jaguar Camp or Jaguar Cabin?
JACK: [cross] Yeah, it’s just the warriors.
ALI: [cross] Yeah, jaguars own!
AUSTIN: So there’s one final step here, that we need to do. We’re moving all of this f—I’ll give “Share an Apology.”
JACK: Oh, we get charms, we get charms, we get charms!
AUSTIN: We get charms!
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah, we get charms. So immediately, I am going to give up my shell charm, my turtle shell charm, because I’m opening up to my new friends, who I can be honest with about my music and all of my dreams.
[JACK walks over]
JACK: Oh, I’m just lookin at the charms.
AUSTIN: Oh! Okay. Preeta?
JANINE: Um. I think…mm. I think I’m gonna pick up…the castle charm? Because I think that Preeta is—she’s not quite there yet, but she is learning that…you know, it is not about what you project into the world, it is about what you build for yourself. She’s not there yet. But [cross] she’ll get there.
AUSTIN: [cross] She’ll get there.
JANINE: Wait until college, maybe young adulthood. Yeah.
AUSTIN: #Fortress.
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Sophia?
ALI: Can I—
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s like the thing you yell into at games? The like—
AUSTIN: Bullhorn.
ALI: Bullhorn. What?
AUSTIN: Yeah, it’s a bullhorn!
ALI: Okay. Well, I would like to give…
JACK: In the UK we call it a megaphone.
AUSTIN: [cross] That’s a different thing.
ALI: [cross] Oh—yeah…
AUSTIN: A megaphone has electricity in it.
ALI: Yeah yeah yeah. Anyway. Mm. Tiffy, you’re gonna get the bullhorn, because I feel like you should be able to share your feelings with us.
JACK: [shouts] Yes!
AUSTIN: Yeah!
ALI: We would help you with your ladybugs.
JACK: I’m taking the elephant because I’m never gonna forget my ladybug.
AUSTIN: And elephants never forget. It’s true.
ART: I’m gonna give up this ladybug, because I’m not possessed by a [AUSTIN laughs loudly] ladybug anymore.
AUSTIN: Perfect. All right! Well, last step for us up here is to “turn to the yearbook section of the hangout guide, or put a blank piece of paper where everyone can reach it. If you’re playing online, have everyone write a hand-written note. Everyone writes a message in the back of the yearbook. This could be a memory, an appreciation, a doodle, or anything you feel like sharing about your experience.” So, I’m gonna pass this down!
JANINE: Yeah!
AUSTIN: This is a real thing, like there are—this is a prototype version of this game that Ross sent us that have yearbook signings from previous people who’ve played this game, and there’s like a sick alligator that says Yuki on it, and like a bunch of other stuff from previous players!
JANINE: It’s probably a dinosaur? [cross] Cuz Yuki’s a dinosaur…
AUSTIN: [cross] There’s a lot of Tiffy in here already! It’s—oh yeah, I guess it’s a dinosaur from Yuki, then Tiffy says “don’t forget to brush your teeth!” and Tiffy also says “Hags! Love you”and also Preeta says, “Thanks for always getting me out of a jam.” These are already pretty good! So.
JANINE: These are pretty good!
AUSTIN: You can go ahead and start! [hands book to JANINE] Everybody else, thank you so much for joining us. As always, you can follow us on Twitter @Friends_Table. You can listen to everything we do at friendsatthetable.net and you can support the show by going to patreon.com/friends_table. Obviously, we are so happy to have done this show for you here today. We could have only done it with the support of the Patreon. This obviously isn’t the Patreon-tier live show goal, but there’s no way I think any of us would be in a stable enough place to be like, yeah, we’ll go to Vancouver! And do a live show! So thank you all for that, if you’re listening now or in the crowd, and thank you so much for your support, because we also wouldn’t be able to do it without that, without like people being here to do a show for. So thank you so much. Have a great remainder of SHUX! We will see you out on the show floor! Bye!
[Clapping and cheering]
[1:58:00]