← Stories Podcast: A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages
Stories Podcast: A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages
Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 2 Megapede Monster Mayhem
00:44:17
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- [00:01]
Host
Hello.
- [00:02]
Amanda Weldon
Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon. Today's story is a crossover episode from Stories rpg, our Play at Home, Listen and Learn game that helps people of all ages tell amazing stories together. Tune in for a regular episode of Stories Podcast later this week. We have Stories Podcast merch, available@storiespodcast.com shop.
- [00:26]
Jillian Jayes
We're also on Cameo for all of.
- [00:28]
Amanda Weldon
Your personalized video message needs. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram oriespodcast.
- [00:33]
Jillian Jayes
If you send us a drawing of your favorite scene or character, we'll share.
- [00:36]
Amanda Weldon
It on our feed. Now, here's a word from our sponsors. This episode of Stories Podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just launching a new venture or managing a successful business, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your terms. Squarespace makes it easy to build a beautiful website with Design Intelligence, a cutting edge AI technology to unlock your strongest creative potential. Design Intelligence empowers anyone to build a beautiful, more personalized website tailored to your unique needs so your site can really reflect your brand and create a specific digital signature to use throughout your entire online presence. Plus, Squarespace has integrated SEO tools. Every Squarespace website is optimized so you show up more often to more people in global search engine results. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch www.squarespace.com dragon to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain, that's squarespace.com dragon for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain, check out the podcast Mysteries about True Histories. Tune in each week as best friends Max and Molly are faced with their latest time traveling quest. It's up to them to use their math and logic skills to keep the troublesome trolls from causing chaos throughout space and time. Can they crack the code before time runs out? Join in on the fun every Thursday. To find out, follow mysteries about True Histories on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts. Thanks. Enjoy the episode.
- [02:40]
Host
Welcome back to Stories rpg. This is the podcast where we play games to tell stories and you can too. Check us out at patreon.com storiesrpg to download Chapter 1 of Giga City Guardians and Save Giga City right alongside the heroes on the show. And just to remind everybody of who those heroes are, let me call Roll Firefly, tell us who you are.
- [03:03]
Jillian Jayes
Hello, this is Amanda Weldon. I am typically the host of Stories podcast, and today I am playing Jillian Jayes, who is also Firefly. I am high school student by day, but I am the leader of the Gigacity Guardians by night and also weekends and all the other time that I'm not a high school student.
- [03:19]
Host
Such a bus. That's the busiest high schooler you've ever heard of.
- [03:22]
Jillian Jayes
My very good friend is Specs. And then I am also. I have a very bad temper.
- [03:29]
Host
Ape, tell us who you are.
- [03:31]
Dan Hines
I am Dan Hines and I am playing Ape Canaveral, the ape who got caught in an experimental rocket explosion and now cannot be harmed. But he's a chimp and he is crushing it.
- [03:45]
Host
And the newest member of the team, the. The last minute addition, the. The applicant who is currently on the job getting interviewed in the middle of a fight with Megapeads. Tell us who you are. Animus.
- [04:00]
Scriv the Bard
Hello, I am Scriv the Bard, playing Animus, the office worker turned unexpected superhero who is now getting some very intense on the job training.
- [04:13]
Host
Champions of the city, Defenders of the peace, Heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardian. Come on. So if you were not with us last time, we left our heroes at the edge of a massive, massive disaster. Megapeeds, who are brick red recalling for Jillian J's the strange creations of her grandmother, the Scarlet King, also known as the most nefarious villain to ever menace Gigacity, have been destroying the entirety of a suburb of Gigacity swarming down from the mountains. And not only that, there's a strange team of interlopers clothed in golden super suits who have gotten there before the Guardians, and seem to be doing quite a good job mopping up the Megapeedes. Meanwhile, our heroes, having just suffered the powers of Animus, making them all so incredibly calm that it took them a little bit to get here, are bewildered midair and having to deal with the idea that they have a serious encounter ahead of them. All right, everyone, let me set the scene. And I just wanted to mention, whenever I set a scene, this is the way I like to do it. And you'll see this in the game at home. First, I'll give you a hook, a little description of what's going on in the scene, what makes it exciting or dramatic. Then I'll take some time to let y'all ask some questions. What's going on? Can I see any of this? Could I do this? Could I do that? Are there any people doing XYZ that Question and answer segment I like to call exploring the scene. Once everyone's explored, that's the opportunity you have to do what's called make a move. When you make a move, you try to do something risky to change things. Maybe you want to make a giant pile of megapeds. Maybe you want to try to save, rescue some citizens or figure out what's wrong with some of the people who are lying on the street. And then finally we'll talk about triumphs and troubles, the good things and bad things, dramatic things that happen as a result of your roles. And just to remind everybody before we get started, because this is a high intensity scene, what do you do if you need to take something out of the plot? If you feel uncomfortable in any way, what do you do?
- [06:51]
Dan Hines
Oh, it's the X card or the X gesture.
- [06:54]
Host
Yeah, you make an X with your hands. You can touch, you can put something on the table even you can have a. Yeah, X with fingers. But yeah, make an X and we'll take it out. Because remember, this story belongs to everyone and we should be more important to each other than the story. All right, is everybody ready to jump in and face the Megapede? The Megapede Mayhem. I think that's a good episode titled Megapede Mayhem. Let's go.
- [07:16]
Dan Hines
The megapeds are one thing, but I'm more concerned these guys. What was he, what was the logo you said they had on the new.
- [07:22]
Host
Super when they turned the back the T of Tusk Corporation emblazoned the other thing. That's interesting. They all have no face mask. These heroes are absolutely identifiable. Nobody's hiding their identity.
- [07:36]
Dan Hines
Well, just to remind everybody, I was on a Tusk ship when it blew up. They were the ones experimenting. So I don't have a lot of faith in their ability. I mean, I'm great and they made me, but it was an accident, you know what I mean? And in a way, I'm kind of self made.
- [07:51]
Host
You know what, as you're saying that, I'm gonna give you a little description. That guy who just surfed up literally look like he was surfing on his friend. He was standing on the shoulders of this massive, hugely over muscled, overbuilt. He looks like he probably has to walk sideways through most doors guy, his hands are easily the size of shovels. There's a guy riding his shoulders. He's standing there balancing. And he's the one who turned over to Firefly and gave the one liner. Aren't you a little late? And then when they turn, they Immediately begin. It almost looks like they're falling sideways through the air. And the minute they stop, they stop on a dime, and the big guy suddenly drops like a stone. He rolls up into a ball and slams into a spot in the street where there are a whole bunch of Megapes swarming. There's a huge amount of bug juice that goes flying. It's brick red. And then he stands up, and as he does, the guy in the air drops down, lands on his shoulders again, and the two of them lift up. You can see that there are people on the street. As you're watching, you see these two women stepping in and out of glass. They're actually jumping out of windows on the street. And every time they jump out, they grab one of the people and then go right back through the window again. They're picking up bodies from the street. They look identical, these two women, but you've seen two of them, and they're dodging in and out of these windows. You also notice that there are these little glittering golden drones that seem to be humming nearby each of them. If anybody would like to ask me any questions what the Megapeedes are up to. They are tearing this place to shreds.
- [09:31]
Scriv the Bard
Yeah, I'm thinking. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Tusk has a secret superpowered core of people. What? What? So I'm gonna have that moment of panic. Okay. Do I recognize any of those faces?
- [09:46]
Host
None of them.
- [09:46]
Scriv the Bard
Because I worked there for a while. None of them.
- [09:48]
Host
You've never seen these people before in your life.
- [09:50]
Scriv the Bard
Cool. Which means hopefully they won't recognize me because I don't have a mask.
- [09:54]
Host
You were always kind of a peon. You were a little bit of a, like, low level worker. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I don't mean to.
- [10:01]
Scriv the Bard
Oh, absolutely. I knew it. I knew it. I knew my place.
- [10:06]
Host
You have not been seen. You're not the kind of person they would have spotted. And maybe they wouldn't have spotted you. You don't know these people. You've never seen them before. You don't know about any program from Tusk. This is all new to you.
- [10:18]
Scriv the Bard
Yeah, this is blowing my mind.
- [10:20]
Host
On the other hand, those red things you've seen some things in part of what you saw. If this is okay with you, let's. Let's roll with. This is. You found. You found a part of the lab where there were pieces of what looked like Brick Biotech, which is Scarlet King's legacy. This is what supposedly Jillian Firefly now you know. Gasp. Supposedly defeated the Scarlet King. There was a huge explosion. The island fortress sank into the sea. It's all over. Only it wasn't. Tusk clearly had something from there, and they had been experimenting on it.
- [11:04]
Scriv the Bard
So, okay, so that's probably what I saw in that lab then. I was working in the division of Tusk Corporation that was looking at, like, environmental research because I want to save the planet and keep the oceans clean. And that is kind of what I stumbled into. And they got very, very angry, and I fled because I could feel those emotions rising up.
- [11:29]
Host
As you're having this flashback right next to you, and you guys see this, all of you are kind of like looking down and you're all just sort of processing. Werebear hits the eject button on his suit and goes. Let's go. And goes flying down through the air, like falling like a furry meteor right onto the back of a Megape, which he starts immediately slashing away at. He's all the way in the thick of it. What are y'all doing? Do you want to know anything? Do you want to do anything? What's everyone's move here? One thing you can always do, you can always ask questions. If there are things you're curious about, you can also make a move. And if you look on the. On the slideshow, you'll see and this is in. In the. The playbook at home, I usually boil moves down to about five different things. There are five different ways you can kind of influence the story. When things get dramatic, you can get physical. So that's, you know, if you want to jump, climb, swim, bash, throw, that's get physical. You might want to figure it out. What are these things? Do they have any weaknesses? What do we know about them? You might want to use empathy, try to persuade somebody, change their mind, influence them. You could try to scare these things off or coordinate with these. With these Tusk Corporation, golden warriors fx, which is using your superpower, something exceptional, you know, blowing things up, making giant, explosive, strange powers, et cetera. And finally there's fix it. Use know how and use technological expertise. The move for making things and breaking things. So if there's any of those that seem like something you would like to do in this scene, by all means, feel free.
- [13:06]
Jillian Jayes
Can you just remind me how. How big are these again? What is. What is the scale?
- [13:10]
Host
This is a great question to ask. These things are easily the size of a garbage truck. But the weird part is they're moving like they don't weigh almost anything. And in fact, as you're watching Werebear Tear into this thing. He punches it, and it goes flying through the air. They're clearly incredibly fast, and their mass seems to be low. They're crushable. On the other hand, as you're watching, one of the things runs up to him and grabs him from behind as he's punching one of them. And he roars suddenly and staggers forward. And as the thing pulls back, you see two bleeding holes on the back of his neck.
- [13:48]
Dan Hines
Yeah, Abe Canaveral is definitely. As soon as he sees Wear Bear get stuck, he's just like. He just, you know, got to fix it. He turns, he winks at Firefly. He's a big winker. Lifts the aviators. Wink, drops it down. He's thinking about delivering a one liner. He's looking at Firefly. Is she going to give him a setup?
- [14:09]
Jillian Jayes
I'm sorry, I'm not ready for a setup for a one liner.
- [14:13]
Dan Hines
He's staring at you. He says, hey, should we go?
- [14:17]
Jillian Jayes
Yes, we should go.
- [14:19]
Dan Hines
He's already gone. He unclipped the second he asked. He falls, curls into, like a cannonball. And he's just gonna land where he lands. Not super concerned. He's. I mean, he's aiming for a bug, but, like, it's all good.
- [14:34]
Host
All right, well, you're indestructible, so landing is not a problem for you. Now, on the other hand.
- [14:38]
Dan Hines
Yeah. It's the aiming.
- [14:40]
Host
Yeah, yeah. On the other hand, you land and you're immediately swarmed. These things are all over you. And you notice there are bodies all over. These things seem to have been doing whatever they did to werebear to everyone in this city. And these people are laid out flat. There are a lot of people who look like they are unconscious on the ground. This is some scary stuff. You've dealt with a lot of chaos in this city before. But these things, they're clearly quick and they're dangerous.
- [15:06]
Scriv the Bard
I'd like to check on the people.
- [15:08]
Jillian Jayes
Yeah, I think we should do that. I also think we have to stop them as fast as possible. And I'm wondering, because I know my suit has, like, light blasters, laser things, and I wonder how they respond to those. Can we try. Can that. Is that a move that we can try to see if that works?
- [15:23]
Host
Absolutely. So your power is going to give you one die. That's your. Your first. Your first thing is your power. Your suit is your power. Yes. So that's one die.
- [15:33]
Jillian Jayes
Yes.
- [15:34]
Host
What do you got for your. Your. Your second die? What else is going to help you here in your attempt to use fx, in other words, special effects to, you know, make some movie magic happen.
- [15:47]
Jillian Jayes
The suit is my power, but it's also effects. It's also gear. Can it be. Can it count twice or not?
- [15:52]
Host
Well, so your. Your power is the suit. The other tags you can use to get dice are the ones on your. Your sheet. So I was thinking your drive to make sure no one else loses someone to super villainy. This is definitely a moment for that.
- [16:07]
Jillian Jayes
Yep.
- [16:08]
Host
You're like. You're having a moment where you're thinking about what happened to your father.
- [16:12]
Jillian Jayes
Yeah, I think that that is a good one. And then I wonder also, because this is. I mean, this is making me angry, and I wonder if I could also use one for my. I have a serious temper, and I really want to. It motivates me to do more to protect people here. Can I use that also?
- [16:30]
Host
What makes you the angriest? Is it. Is it the bugs themselves and the people in danger, or is it the fact that that guy in gold had the time to stop and mouth off at you when people are in danger?
- [16:43]
Jillian Jayes
It's obviously that, because I do not like that at all. It makes me very mad, I think. Yeah. So I'm angry now. I have that matchstick.
- [16:50]
Host
Yeah. You feel the fury flare, and you. You feel your. Your. The armor immediately responds. All the haptic synapses are all, like, immediately reactive, and the beams light up. You got three dice to roll. Okay. Okay, here we go. All right. We got a 1, a 2, and a 4. Success, but with a trouble. Okay. So you immediately begin blasting. These things are shriveling up, and there's goo splattering. You're definitely having an effect. You streak along one of the streets, and you're blasting down a rain of light on these creatures, and they're shriveling up. They're getting spattered. Now, here's my question. We could go with a couple of different kinds of trouble. I'd like to ask you what kind you'd like. So there are some mechanical types of trouble. Example, you could mess things up for another one of your superheroes. You could end up hurting the next person's move and remove a die from their next move because you somehow inconvenience them. You could also, in some way, get either hurt or, like, inconvenienced. So even shame counts as losing a heart. Everyone has three hearts. When you lose a heart, the number of dice you can roll for any move goes down. And if you lose all three, you're out. And it means you're going to wake up in a more dramatic and awkward and potentially dramatically interesting situation. So would you like to lose a heart? Would you like to hurt somebody else's chance to make a move? Or would you like to create more trouble for everyone else to deal with? Which of these options would you like to have happen in addition to your success? Blasting mega PS.
- [18:39]
Jillian Jayes
I think that I am. I'm going to say I think I would. I would prefer to lose a heart. I think I don't want to inconvenience anyone, and I don't want to create more trouble, so I'm going to. I'm going to pick the heart.
- [18:50]
Host
All right, so here's what happens. You are. You are cruising through the street.
- [18:54]
Jillian Jayes
Is that the wrong answer?
- [18:56]
Host
There's no wrong answer.
- [18:57]
Scriv the Bard
No, there's none.
- [18:58]
Jillian Jayes
Okay. Okay.
- [19:00]
Host
So firefly goes zooming through the streets, blasting light. These things are shriveling up and blowing away. And you're getting down into the middle of the street, and you're beginning. At one point, you're circling, and light is blasting, and you're nailing just left and right. And suddenly something lands on your. On your back, and you feel a piercing sensation in the back of your neck, and there's a cold sort of like, throbbing feeling. And you realize you've got one on. You blast it off. But you feel it made it through the armor, and you got hit. And whatever this is, it's spreading through your veins. You hear specs. And he goes, suit compromised. Are you okay? Jillian, talk to me.
- [19:47]
Jillian Jayes
It feels. This feels really weird. I also. I don't understand if they seem to kind of, like, light or, you know, I don't know how they got through the suit. Like, there must be something special going on. So I feel really confused, and it feels. This feels bad. I don't feel good.
- [20:01]
Host
He goes, I'm trying to figure out what these things are. I'm looking up everything I can. I guess they kind of look like, I don't know, something you find under the bed. He's like, hang on, I'll keep researching. You are feeling this spreading coldness from the back of your neck. You definitely know that whatever happened to you, it's got. There's something in your veins, and it doesn't feel right. Everybody else, what are you up to?
- [20:29]
Dan Hines
Punching bugs.
- [20:30]
Host
You're punching bugs. They. They are really not fun to punch ape. In fact, when you punch one, it goes flying away. And you see it very quickly catch its feet again and go skittering off. These things seem to be both Incredibly light, but also really hard to damage. In a weird way, if you can trap them between a hard place and put pressure on them, you can squish them, but if you hit them sideways, they just kind of float away. They kind of like, you bash them, and they. They go flying. They're not very heavy, but they're really quick. They also dodge a lot. A bunch of them have tried to put their fangs in you, but they're not having much luck. Would you like to make a move?
- [21:06]
Dan Hines
Not at the moment. I want to. I'm going to. To look up to see what everybody else is doing, because I think I'm on the ground, I'm punching bugs, and I know you said it's a little frustrating.
- [21:15]
Host
Weirder is staggering next to you, and he's shaking his head like he's. He's got something. Like, he's kind of like. Like he keeps shaking his head and looking a little uncomfortable.
- [21:26]
Dan Hines
I. I am not worried about it. Unflappable as always. I said, hey, bud, this is just some guerrilla warfare. And I go for a high five.
- [21:35]
Host
He. He kind of. He's like, ew. And like, he high fives you, and then he, like, bashes off another megapede, and he staggers backwards. He's almost never. He's incredibly physically powerful. He's almost never uncomfortable on his feet. Something's going on there.
- [21:53]
Dan Hines
Ape doesn't notice.
- [21:54]
Host
Okay.
- [21:55]
Dan Hines
He's preoccupied.
- [21:57]
Host
Animus, do you have anything you want to do?
- [21:59]
Scriv the Bard
Okay. Yes. So many things. I don't have lasers. I can't fly. I don't have indestructible fists.
- [22:07]
Host
Correct.
- [22:07]
Scriv the Bard
But I see some people on the ground.
- [22:08]
Host
You do.
- [22:09]
Scriv the Bard
There's a lot going on, and I can feel a lot of it. Let me check on the people on the ground, whoever is closest to me.
- [22:17]
Host
All right. You. You. You kind of, like, you can't figure out the harness. Do you want to ask Specs, or do you want to just, like, hit the button that Werebear did and go flying down?
- [22:27]
Scriv the Bard
Since I am still starstruck by the fact that I'm even here and trying to keep it all together.
- [22:33]
Host
Yeah.
- [22:34]
Scriv the Bard
And also feeling really angry seeing those gold suited individuals. I'm just gonna try to press the button myself.
- [22:44]
Host
Okay. You press the button. You. You managed to. You sort of managed to get low enough that when you press the button, it's not a drop. That is terrifying. You land actually almost on top of Werebear and sort of like, he staggers a little more, but he catches you. And he sets you down. He goes, look out. I don't want you getting. And then he bashes something sideways, and you kind of run off to the side, and he goes, you all right? He shouts after you.
- [23:13]
Scriv the Bard
I'm fine.
- [23:15]
Host
Okay.
- [23:15]
Scriv the Bard
However, in that moment. So I'm imagining if there is contact with another being that has the capacity to feel anything, then perhaps my ability to sense that might be a little bit stronger versus just the general sense of the room.
- [23:34]
Host
Yeah.
- [23:34]
Scriv the Bard
What is Werebear feeling right now? This is more passive use of power.
- [23:39]
Host
Versus it sounds like you want to figure it out. You want to figure out what's going on with you by using your power.
- [23:45]
Scriv the Bard
I have a lot of things I want to figure out.
- [23:47]
Host
Okay.
- [23:47]
Scriv the Bard
Yeah. Because I saw. I saw him staggering.
- [23:50]
Host
Yep. So I think one die. You got one die from your power.
- [23:54]
Dan Hines
For sure.
- [23:54]
Host
You've made the connection. Okay. What else do you have, tag wise, that might help you figure out what's going on with Werebear and maybe by extension, Jillian, who's definitely got a spreading sense of cold.
- [24:07]
Scriv the Bard
Yes. So I am propelled into action. Seeing Firefly go, that's what inspired me to just go ahead and hit the button instead of just being a bystander. So I'd like to use that Bond Starstruck by Fire.
- [24:22]
Host
Oh, that's perfect. You're worried about her.
- [24:24]
Scriv the Bard
Definitely. I also want to use Drive, because it's clear Tusk is involved.
- [24:30]
Host
Totally. This is definitely some nefarious stuff. All right, that's three dice. Give me your roll. Let's.
- [24:41]
Scriv the Bard
Oh, I got two sixes and a one.
- [24:45]
Host
The one.
- [24:46]
Dan Hines
Forget the one.
- [24:47]
Host
Nothing. That's a. That's an epic. The one fell on the floor, That's a double triumph. Okay, I'm gonna tell you right now.
- [24:55]
Scriv the Bard
Tell me how you feel.
- [24:56]
Host
Yeah, well, I'm gonna tell you more than that. Ready? You suddenly have an emotional connection with Werebear that becomes immediately profound. You don't just know how Werebear is feeling now. You know Werebear. In fact, you feel like you've known him forever. For a moment. You know everything about him. Every emotion, every heartbreak, every moment of despair, every joy and triumph. You feel the affection he feels for his team. You feel his connection with the Magic Tree. You feel some of his oldest friendship and his greatest heartbreaks in a flash. And you also have this momentary insight. Whatever that thing put in him, it definitely is carrying something from Tusk. It's changing him. He's not. He's not fully himself. So I'm going to tell you right now, you know that whatever they're putting into people, it's got an effect that's greater than whatever this paralysis most folks seem to be suffering from. You don't think it's killing him? You don't think he's dying. In fact, you're, you're betting that most of these people are all right, but they're definitely, they're definitely being changed from the inside out.
- [26:15]
Dan Hines
So I, I think Ape would just see her stricken and just be like, hey, new kid, what's going on?
- [26:21]
Host
Well, here's the thing. You probably, when you, you see her being stricken, you're. You're kind of worried. One of the giant creatures rears up behind her and is about to sink its fangs into the back of her neck while she's standing there zoning out.
- [26:34]
Scriv the Bard
I had a cool idea for a.
- [26:36]
Host
Moment, okay, for this sort of thing.
- [26:37]
Scriv the Bard
In my head, but I already made a move.
- [26:39]
Host
No, no, it's okay. You can make another move.
- [26:41]
Scriv the Bard
I can make another move.
- [26:41]
Host
We're not doing well usually. So here's the way this works. Ready? In terms of making moves, we tend to take turns making moves. Right. Just to let everybody into the story. Yes. But if we decide, because there's a moment in the story that's really great, that you want to work with somebody or somebody wants to say, like, no, you go ahead, do the move. We can totally do that if we're not in a drama clock, and that'll come later. Drama clocks make things. I'm not ready to spring those on you. I don't want to terrorize you just yet.
- [27:10]
Scriv the Bard
So I had this idea earlier because I was trying to figure out, all right, if I'm going to go check on people, I'm squishy, right. What defenses do I have? Well, I can make an attacker feel something. I don't know if this would work on the megapeeds, but I'd like to try. If I am already in this hyper sensory state after that connection with Werebear, which Werebear may not be aware of at this time, I want to try to channel all of that emotion, all of that understanding that I just absorbed, and try to strike fear into the heart of whatever this is coming behind me.
- [27:50]
Host
Okay.
- [27:51]
Scriv the Bard
So I'm guessing I would, I would kind of feel it and I would just. Because I. If I was just inside Werebear's mind, I'm kind of envisioning turning around, roaring at this thing that's beautiful in this tiny, disheveled, suit wearing mess of an office worker form.
- [28:08]
Host
I Like, I like the idea that this is also. This is also the moment where you're acing the job interview. You know, like, Abe Canaveral looks over, and he's like, hey, new kid. You know, are you okay? And this thing goes up, and Abe's going, okay, like, we shouldn't have taken her. Like, this is going to be real bad pr. Like, immediately is like, a mistake.
- [28:28]
Scriv the Bard
And imagining the eyes just going black, like, pupils dilating and just so.
- [28:33]
Host
Yeah. You feel suddenly like you have an immense beard. Really, it's just gorgeous and giant and huge and matted. I mean, really, you feel really my dream. You have. You feel really hairy and. And you almost feel like claws are going to come right out your hands. You also are carrying with you the knowledge of when the seed of the magic tree was first planted and when Werebear first transformed, when he first learned of his powers. And you have this moment where you remember being. He was apparently only 10 years old, and the first time he transformed and he found the tree, and you have this surge of energy, and you turn around and you roar. And if you want to make this a move, I'll let you roll. If we want to make this one just a dramatic win, we can. What do you want to do, everybody? Do you want to make her move, or do you want to make it just a win?
- [29:21]
Dan Hines
Oh, no. You always get a move.
- [29:23]
Host
Amanda's going, I want the win. Go ahead, Amanda, say your thing.
- [29:26]
Amanda Weldon
I do.
- [29:27]
Jillian Jayes
I want the win. I want the win. I feel like this is only the beginning because we have to defeat these, the Megapeds, and then we also have to figure out what's going on with Tusk and I. I think we could use a win right now. That would be great.
- [29:39]
Scriv the Bard
I'd be willing to take a win with a consequence.
- [29:42]
Host
Ooh, a win with a consequence. I mean, I don't think this is about. So this is important. Ready? This is about telling a good story. And this is. What we're doing right now is actually a really important moment. What we're doing is everyone's stepping outside of their characters and talking as a group of authors about what we want to have happen. And that's different than in a lot of games. In a lot of games, they'll sort of force you to try to have drama at every roll. We don't need to roll for everything. We need to decide when roles are interesting and fun for the story. And if it's a moment where, you know what for the story, this would just be a great win. Then it's cool for us to hand wave it and move on to a moment where there's a move where it would be dramatic.
- [30:22]
Dan Hines
Well, I was just going to say, since she rolled the double six earlier on the first thing, I think she could probably. That probably carries. That is brilliant, now that I think about it.
- [30:31]
Host
I would love to do that. Let's do it.
- [30:34]
Scriv the Bard
These are now my luckiest dice.
- [30:35]
Host
You got the bond. So you turn around with Werebear surging through you and the memory of Werebear's childhood transformation. And you look at this thing and you actually see its face. You're the first one to see this thing's head. It's a tiny little round head underneath all these feelers. And when it rears back, there are two. Two mandible, like things near its mouth that rear up. And you can see a glistening spike at the end of each of them. And you look straight in its face. And this is totally unlike you. Normally you would be like, oh, no. And you have this moment of just absolutely bellow. You're like. And the thing, literally, you see, you swear it almost swallows its own forceps. It's like. And like it's shitters. And immediately, like, almost falls over backwards and starts scurrying away. Several other megapeds scurry for, like, cover because they're in the radius of the noise. And. And there's this moment of silence. There's like a beat. And Werebear looks across at you and he goes, dang, kid. Like, everyone stops. And then the chaos erupts around you. All right, at this point, most of the megapeds are starting to. To disappear. That. That pair of women you. One of them steps through a mirror right next to you, nods at you. She's very elegant looking and dressed incredibly fashionably. And then a second one steps through the mirror right next to her. They both look at you. They have the exact same face. And they together pick up one of the bodies and step back through the window. It looks like they literally just disappear into the reflective surface. A second later, they reappear. One of them reappears on the other side of the street and grabs another body. We're. It looks like we're in cleanup. There's a lot of these things that have been crushed. Many of them are scurrying away. That big guy keeps dropping out of the sky like a meteor and nailing them to the floor. And the guy who's riding his shoulders seems to be doing a weird kind of flight. The. The part that's odd is he seems to be going in straight lines feet first every time, but then he stops and, like, turns and hovers. But they seem to be doing a really good job at making a mess of these guys. Ape, you've been slugging it out with these things. You've managed to crush a few. Is there any move you want to make as this thing is cleaning up?
- [32:59]
Dan Hines
All right, first. So, yeah, Ape's down there. Ape's punching bugs. Loving it. Loving life. Really enjoys punching bugs, it turns out.
- [33:06]
Host
Bug hunt, definitely.
- [33:09]
Dan Hines
When he sees the new girl there, do the roar. He'll learn her name eventually. I don't think he knows it yet. She's the new girl. Do a roar. He definitely paused for a second. He's, oh, we gotta get her a suit. That's about as respectful as he gets.
- [33:25]
Host
Okay, Firefly, you've managed to clean up a few more. You still are feeling the effects of the bite, but most of the bugs seem to be dead now. And those, the golden figures have started, like, congregating. That one guy, he sort of steps forward. He talked to you earlier. He lands nearby and he goes, I think we got it covered from here. Thanks for the assist.
- [33:49]
Jillian Jayes
I hate that man. I think he sounds like a terrible jerk, and I'm so mad. I hate him so much. I am very suspicious of these people. I also am still feeling the cold, the bad feeling in my body, and I'm uncomfortable with that. And I just feel very inherently suspicious and bad. And I'm wondering if I could. Can I use my suit and take a. You know how. I don't know if this is explicitly outlined in there, but there's so many things in the. That heads up display that are possible and, like, so many different views and things and whatever. And I wonder if I can take a picture of his face so that we can, like, remember what he looks like and figure out who he is later.
- [34:26]
Host
Oh, totally. Absolutely. Okay, you do the sub voice to Specs. You're like, specs, get this guy's face.
- [34:33]
Jillian Jayes
Yeah.
- [34:34]
Host
He's like, I already got multiple angles on all of them. He's like, you're not going to like this. Jill, you're on. You're on camera right now. One of those gold drones is hovering sideways, and he just said, thanks for the assist. And you realize every single bit of this has been being streamed. Spec says they're staging it. Specs is like, this is up on all the social feeds. They're sending news choppers. These guys are really prepared.
- [35:04]
Jillian Jayes
They did this is a setup. They did this on purpose.
- [35:07]
Dan Hines
You said it's on all the feeds.
- [35:09]
Host
You say this. You. You dropped your harness, and you don't have the. The hookup. So you don't know this is going on, Abe. But, Dan, as an author, you know this is going on. The person who knows this is going on right now and who heard it from Specs is Jillian. So you have a moment here where you have a choice. You can respond to this guy, but you have this moment of, like, specs, get this guy on camera, and then you realize you're on camera already, and he just delivered a line, and there's this silence between you. What do you want to say?
- [35:38]
Jillian Jayes
This is. This is not my strength. Like, I mean, it obviously has to be, like, kind of pithy and everything, but I also think that, like, he's. He's deliberately putting us in a position where we seem like we are less than capable and that they had it all under control and that we showed up late in the first place and then. And then didn't help out as much as they did. But clearly they had, like, the insider knowledge to know how to defeat these bugs in the first place and also showed up on time because they were, again, staging it somehow. So, like, they. You know, they got an invitation and we did not.
- [36:08]
Dan Hines
So we can't accuse them of that on tv.
- [36:10]
Jillian Jayes
No, I know. So it has to be. I feel like it has to be something. I feel like the stronger move is to, like, appear to be, like, not set up an adversarial thing on the camera. Because also, if we're thinking about, like, I feel like we have to look like we're working together and that we are mutually wanting to keep everyone safe, because otherwise, we will look like it will not inspire confidence in the citizens of Giga City.
- [36:39]
Host
Definitely. He was excited to be able. Like, there's this polished delivery, and, you know, you can feel the sneer at the edge of the line.
- [36:47]
Scriv the Bard
What if you extended a hand, like a handshake, and say, not bad for your first run? Always run from. Let's see what you can do. Something like that.
- [36:57]
Dan Hines
That's a great one. That's great.
- [36:58]
Jillian Jayes
Firefly says exactly that, and it goes over really well.
- [37:01]
Scriv the Bard
If they don't shake your hand, it makes them look bad.
- [37:04]
Host
Amanda, you gotta. You gotta lay this one on this guy. Come on.
- [37:08]
Jillian Jayes
Yeah. Okay. All right. So I extend my hand, and I. And I say to the man, not bad for your first try or not bad for your first run? There's always room for More heroes in Giga City.
- [37:21]
Host
He takes the hand, shakes it, gives you a big grin, and he goes, pleasure finally meeting you. And then immediately flips. And this is the part that's crazy. It's like he's. He's facing you like this, right? Eye to eye, literally. It's almost like there's a pivot in the middle of his body, and his head and his feet shift and he. And he streaks upwards, and when he. And the big guy is, like, floating in midair, and he lands on him. And then the two of them right themselves and they start and they streak off towards the city. And I'm gonna cut the scene here, so you guys have a moment of.
- [37:59]
Dan Hines
Cleaning up as they. As they zip off. Ape. Ape and Scriv get there. Animus and just says, hey, new kid's good. Who are those nerds? That's all.
- [38:16]
Host
That's a good one liner. Werebear staggers up and he's like, maybe it's because I've been sleeping in the lighthouse or maybe it's that bug, but, y'all, I don't feel right. And he's scratching the back of his neck. And the camera pulls back on this smoking ruin, and you can see, as we're sort of watching from above, all the ambulances making their way through the streets. But very few bodies still remain. It looks like those two figures who kept stepping out of glass have collected most of the wounded. And that leaves the Giga City guardians standing in the wreckage, confused, bewildered, and not looking so great.
- [38:59]
Dan Hines
You guys want to go get lunch?
- [39:03]
Host
River's like, I could eat. Clearly, it is not a feeling of victory that you are experiencing at the moment. It's definitely something has gone wrong. And Gillian is left with this icy feeling creeping through her veins. And Werebear clearly doesn't seem like he's at his best either. All right, and at that moment, I want to close it there. I want to quickly give everybody a chance. First of all, thank you all. That was great. So much drama and suspense. Let's take a moment. And what were your shout outs? Let's cheer each other on for the moments of drama that really made it.
- [40:16]
Dan Hines
Ooh, I gotta give Animus right away. The one two punch of channeling Werebear into the howl is very good.
- [40:23]
Scriv the Bard
Yeah, I was very disoriented after that, so it's a good thing the bugs started leaving because I probably wouldn't have been able to do that again.
- [40:30]
Host
Well, they were all squished, thank goodness. Or. Or otherwise dispatched. But yeah, you. You definitely have a lingering sense of connection there.
- [40:40]
Scriv the Bard
I probably can't look werebear in the eyes for a little while.
- [40:44]
Host
I thought the. The end line. Dan, I wanted to give you credit for the, like, y'all want to go to lunch? Like, I pulled away and tried to leave you with the biggest dramatic hang, and you immediately resolved it in a. In a great superheroic way. That was amazing.
- [40:58]
Scriv the Bard
That's so Ape, though. Yeah, I. I imagine would have, like, just kind of taken the aviator glasses off, polished him up a little bit, said, well, want to go get lunch? Put him back on slowly.
- [41:12]
Dan Hines
Ape is a little like, to Ape. Everything went awesome and he did great. Like, it all worked out.
- [41:18]
Host
Unshakable, dude. Amanda, I really appreciate that you let me drop the most dramatic moment on you and the handshake reveal of, like, you're already on film. And I thank you so much for rolling with that and thank everyone. You guys all came together and did a dope author's breakdown, a writer's room moment of, how do we do this and make it stick? Like, what's the right moment for the story? That was awesome.
- [41:45]
Jillian Jayes
Yes. And thank you, Animus, for coming up with the actual line. Thank you.
- [41:50]
Scriv the Bard
That's okay. It's a team effort.
- [41:52]
Host
Do we want to do a round of applause just for everybody?
- [41:55]
Scriv the Bard
Yes. And the starstruck feeling continues. I think of, like, everyone, though, because this will be the first time Animus has seen everyone in action directly. So I think in general, not even thinking about interview or anything, but feeling that almost out of body experience of being there and seeing it. But then, of course, that bubbling anger of, what the heck, Tusk.
- [42:23]
Dan Hines
I want to figure out what Tusk is up to. That's the mission.
- [42:26]
Scriv the Bard
Next time.
- [42:26]
Host
Yeah, that's definitely. Trust me. There's so much for you to learn. And I promise all will be revealed if you chase after it. But not all at once. And with that, caveats. Yeah. Always, always. You gotta keep the drama going. So thank you all so much for playing with me today and for telling these wonderful stories. And thank everyone at home for listening. If you wanna play along in Giga City Guardians, you can find chapter one on patreon.com storiesrpg you can create your own heroes, and there's a parallel plotline which will eventually intersect with ours. So thank you all so much, and we'll see you next time.
- [43:03]
Dan Hines
Bye.
- [43:04]
Scriv the Bard
Thanks, everyone.
- [43:05]
Jillian Jayes
Bye. Thanks for listening.