Okay, I used my chapter comment as my immediate reaction instead of an analysis. 🤣 I read the chapter before listening to more than 10 minutes of the podcast - thanks kids 🙄😅
So this comment will include my chapter and podcast thought, lol.
Ella got lucky in the library that Jason bought her lie(s). I have a feeling that first lie- that someone is threatening her- is going to be something significant going forward. Its also got a kind of ironic vibe, given she's being watched and doesn't know it...
Specific to the wording, I noticed Jason said "[when a mountain tells you to stop]" and I thought the agency that gave the mountain was really interesting, especially since he refered to it as the mountain just a moment before. Gave me some Ena and the Black Bloods Mountain vibes, like an acknowledgement that it isn't just a geography feature- there is something *more* there. Which is even more possible given Jason's last line in the chapter.
The bit about Clara's own parents telling them to stop looking is such a great balance between the human world and the Aitherion world, and the fine line that needs to be walked when the two collide. I mean, it could just mean she has shit patents in both cases, but it seems like its the perfect line to feed the sheriff so the 🪑 can be addressed "in-house" so to speak, keeping the humans out of the Aitherion community.
Evan... I automatically got uncomfortable vibes, even though you specifically said he wasn't smiling in a skeevy way. I dunno, Im suspicious about that one. Maybe I just don't like the triangle of love interest implications, lol. But yeah, yet again, go Paige! Lol. Love her bossy interferance. Speaking of, the little look Jason makes when Ella asks if Evan was Paige's ex 🤣. Ella still doesn't know that *he* is Paige's ex, and that little podcast easter egg makes that briefest moment all the more enjoyable. And I totally agree with Chris (and Paige) Jason and Ella are just so cute together. (( Megan and Chris, you two are just so adorable together too.))
That poor Ella though, all the sexy boys 🤣 Teenage life is hard enough, Sibyl life is hard enough... Sibyl with teenage hormones - oof.
...oh gods, I just thought about it- she gets visions when touching people ... how awkward does that potentially make any physical interaction with your partner? Enough visions when making out, or more -cough- , and I imagine thats enough to make her wary keep doing that. Aw...
The game sounds so much fun! 10/10 I'm in for playong this campaign with you Chris!
(Andre's angry manipulation of the game so Jason wouldnt self-sacrifice again, 🤣.)
I am slightly sad we didn't get a description of the dessert binge. What kind of rich people dessert option nonsense does Andre provide?! Lol.
I love that there is a whole town festival arounf K.A.T. Now I have so many questions about who made and sponsors this game. And how/why did it become such an integral part of Laureldale? Why are they so willing to put up and bribe the students with a huge field trip... What is their motive??
(And yeah, there were 400+ kids in my graduating class, and there were like 8 high schools in my district. I cant even fathom the small town small of Laureldale. My "smallest" town experience is still around 45,000 people during the out-of-school seasons -and another 35,000 ish people when the university is in session.)
Ahahaha, and now I have to go re-listen to The Tethering and see if I can figure out which character you killed because of Chris' voice.
Regarding the festival and field trip planning needs, it makes a lot of sense that the field trip is planned for the within the year after the win. That gives plenty of time to plan, or like, buy the right number of Broadway tickets, or whatever; lets the field trip date move to best suit whatever the prize is (like the Broadway show's schedule or whitewater rafting season, etc). Then you can make the festival whenever you want. 👍
Also I have a [text]book, Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. I haven't read it cover to cover, and what I read was a few years ago, but I will absolutely pull the book out and look for any information that is relevant to making this game come true 👀. Seriously, hit me up with some details and I'll start digging in. I gotchu.
I'm so excited for Ella to finally figure out that Jason is Paige's ex! It's such a silly thing, but it brings me so much joy that Ella still doesn't know!
In the non-cut version of the chapter I covered that Jason's mom and Andre's dad have an overfeeding rivalry going on since Jason's Mom runs the Argo and Andre's Dad is a food influencer. So events at Andre's house have whatever is trending, while events at Jason's have coffee house pastry delights.
The festival is going to be amazing. And also probably not until like the third book. I have this image in my head of a full Laureldale LARP and it makes me so happy!
I grew up in a hamlet, which is what they call you in Upstate New York if you're too small to qualify as a village. So I had the same six kids in my grade who got bussed from the hamlet into the "big" elementary school where we had a whopping forty-some students. Yeah...I grew up in BFE.
If you're interested, I can have Chris reproduce his voice that led to a character death. Smh.
I'm going to look up the Game Design Workshop for sure. I need to figure out how to get the concept of K.A.T. written out in a format that makes sense to game people. I really think it would be so much fun and I will definitely hit you up when I figure out what the hell I need to hit people up for!
Also, would you mind if I share the BINGO cards?! I love them!
I love that Jason's mom and Andre's dad have a overfeeding rivalry, that's fantastic. And even more, I love that you get to share these trival world building bits that might never make it into the books but paint such a rich picture of the characters and their lives. It makes me just that little bit more attached to them all ❤️
Hahaha, well, I would say no need to put yourself through a vice you hate that much...but it would be good for the bingo cards 🤣 which, absolutely you can share! More the merrier! It may be a fun way to boost listener participation - whoever gets a verified BINGO can get a shout out the next episode.
For K A.T. my husband shared a game proposal guide he found via a creator he really likes. Its video game oriented but I'm going to finish looking through it today and if it seems like it should still have relevant guidance for a tabletop game I'll PM it to Chris 👍
Okay, I used my chapter comment as my immediate reaction instead of an analysis. 🤣 I read the chapter before listening to more than 10 minutes of the podcast - thanks kids 🙄😅
So this comment will include my chapter and podcast thought, lol.
Ella got lucky in the library that Jason bought her lie(s). I have a feeling that first lie- that someone is threatening her- is going to be something significant going forward. Its also got a kind of ironic vibe, given she's being watched and doesn't know it...
Specific to the wording, I noticed Jason said "[when a mountain tells you to stop]" and I thought the agency that gave the mountain was really interesting, especially since he refered to it as the mountain just a moment before. Gave me some Ena and the Black Bloods Mountain vibes, like an acknowledgement that it isn't just a geography feature- there is something *more* there. Which is even more possible given Jason's last line in the chapter.
The bit about Clara's own parents telling them to stop looking is such a great balance between the human world and the Aitherion world, and the fine line that needs to be walked when the two collide. I mean, it could just mean she has shit patents in both cases, but it seems like its the perfect line to feed the sheriff so the 🪑 can be addressed "in-house" so to speak, keeping the humans out of the Aitherion community.
Evan... I automatically got uncomfortable vibes, even though you specifically said he wasn't smiling in a skeevy way. I dunno, Im suspicious about that one. Maybe I just don't like the triangle of love interest implications, lol. But yeah, yet again, go Paige! Lol. Love her bossy interferance. Speaking of, the little look Jason makes when Ella asks if Evan was Paige's ex 🤣. Ella still doesn't know that *he* is Paige's ex, and that little podcast easter egg makes that briefest moment all the more enjoyable. And I totally agree with Chris (and Paige) Jason and Ella are just so cute together. (( Megan and Chris, you two are just so adorable together too.))
That poor Ella though, all the sexy boys 🤣 Teenage life is hard enough, Sibyl life is hard enough... Sibyl with teenage hormones - oof.
...oh gods, I just thought about it- she gets visions when touching people ... how awkward does that potentially make any physical interaction with your partner? Enough visions when making out, or more -cough- , and I imagine thats enough to make her wary keep doing that. Aw...
The game sounds so much fun! 10/10 I'm in for playong this campaign with you Chris!
(Andre's angry manipulation of the game so Jason wouldnt self-sacrifice again, 🤣.)
I am slightly sad we didn't get a description of the dessert binge. What kind of rich people dessert option nonsense does Andre provide?! Lol.
I love that there is a whole town festival arounf K.A.T. Now I have so many questions about who made and sponsors this game. And how/why did it become such an integral part of Laureldale? Why are they so willing to put up and bribe the students with a huge field trip... What is their motive??
(And yeah, there were 400+ kids in my graduating class, and there were like 8 high schools in my district. I cant even fathom the small town small of Laureldale. My "smallest" town experience is still around 45,000 people during the out-of-school seasons -and another 35,000 ish people when the university is in session.)
Ahahaha, and now I have to go re-listen to The Tethering and see if I can figure out which character you killed because of Chris' voice.
Regarding the festival and field trip planning needs, it makes a lot of sense that the field trip is planned for the within the year after the win. That gives plenty of time to plan, or like, buy the right number of Broadway tickets, or whatever; lets the field trip date move to best suit whatever the prize is (like the Broadway show's schedule or whitewater rafting season, etc). Then you can make the festival whenever you want. 👍
Also I have a [text]book, Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. I haven't read it cover to cover, and what I read was a few years ago, but I will absolutely pull the book out and look for any information that is relevant to making this game come true 👀. Seriously, hit me up with some details and I'll start digging in. I gotchu.
Alright, continue.
(Hehehe.)
I'm so excited for Ella to finally figure out that Jason is Paige's ex! It's such a silly thing, but it brings me so much joy that Ella still doesn't know!
In the non-cut version of the chapter I covered that Jason's mom and Andre's dad have an overfeeding rivalry going on since Jason's Mom runs the Argo and Andre's Dad is a food influencer. So events at Andre's house have whatever is trending, while events at Jason's have coffee house pastry delights.
The festival is going to be amazing. And also probably not until like the third book. I have this image in my head of a full Laureldale LARP and it makes me so happy!
I grew up in a hamlet, which is what they call you in Upstate New York if you're too small to qualify as a village. So I had the same six kids in my grade who got bussed from the hamlet into the "big" elementary school where we had a whopping forty-some students. Yeah...I grew up in BFE.
If you're interested, I can have Chris reproduce his voice that led to a character death. Smh.
I'm going to look up the Game Design Workshop for sure. I need to figure out how to get the concept of K.A.T. written out in a format that makes sense to game people. I really think it would be so much fun and I will definitely hit you up when I figure out what the hell I need to hit people up for!
Also, would you mind if I share the BINGO cards?! I love them!
I love that Jason's mom and Andre's dad have a overfeeding rivalry, that's fantastic. And even more, I love that you get to share these trival world building bits that might never make it into the books but paint such a rich picture of the characters and their lives. It makes me just that little bit more attached to them all ❤️
Hahaha, well, I would say no need to put yourself through a vice you hate that much...but it would be good for the bingo cards 🤣 which, absolutely you can share! More the merrier! It may be a fun way to boost listener participation - whoever gets a verified BINGO can get a shout out the next episode.
For K A.T. my husband shared a game proposal guide he found via a creator he really likes. Its video game oriented but I'm going to finish looking through it today and if it seems like it should still have relevant guidance for a tabletop game I'll PM it to Chris 👍