TOQ-Back: Ep 26

The cast talks fighting plagues versus people, cool goth sisters, and Ebenezer Bones.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Hey!

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to the talk back.

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Welcome to the talk back.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome to the talk back.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the talk back. We have a lot to talk about. Oh yeah. We're locked. Okay. So we are we airing.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Nobody's okay with themselves singing, but nobody else. I was okay. I said I'm okay with y'all singing now. Yeah. But you just shut us down from the song. We were starting to do it. I was providing contrast. I was providing contrast to the rule that was set up.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Yes. It's after we went through all of those singing lessons that Chloe signed us up for.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, so we just finished recording the episode.

unknown 0:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

As you can tell, we're still in the same clothes. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Kind of embarrassing. No embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

This is like four days later. We've not changed.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Or moved.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Or moved. We've just been sitting at this table.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Festering.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Thinking. There's moss growing on our feet.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

I wish. My tozies are cold. No, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 1:06

Some moss slippers.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

We're talking to the podcast. Yeah, let's mosque. Whoa. I just channeled.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

I'm so yeah, that's basically. I feel like Janice would wear some mosque sins. Yeah. Is that your segue into talking about the podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

That's really good. Yes. So we started uh with a little interrogation of Janice's sister.

unknown 1:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

What's with the Apollons talking in circles? Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

I think it is I think it is classic Midwest family to like not say what's wrong. Just not say what's wrong and be overly polite and get really get really offend offended at like things they should get offended on it.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Also, like like to be fair to her, you showed up at her door and you were like, What's wrong with you? Which like to be fair, she's sick. She's sick, but like I think in defense of her being like kind of cagey, like I think that her perspective was like, okay, my brother like ran away to ostensibly do something for six months, and now he's just and like I struggled with that, and now he's just back being like, What's your problem?

SPEAKER_04 2:09

Yeah, what we didn't or what maybe she was hiding is like a sense of actual hurt. Like with that in mind, she's probably hiding a deeper hurt of feeling abandoned by her brother.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Yeah, I think the hard part is not wanting to start the episode on like such a heavy emotional beat. Well, so like wanting to have steer into it.

SPEAKER_04 2:30

I think there's a negative way, I'm saying in a in a positive, like in a like when you are ice and a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

It's also like this is how siblings handle that.

SPEAKER_05 2:40

Totally.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, that's how siblings handle like well, because I didn't want her to walk in and be like, and here's my like emotional core in relation to you. Absolutely. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

No, yeah. I think she reacted appropriately, and and I think Janice reacted appropriately of just like um like siblings give each other shit. Siblings give each other a lot of shit. And so, especially when Janice is here to cure a plague that he just found out his sister has and has been hiding from his family.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

No, I was saying that I I agree. I think that it it was hiding that in a really positive way.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Oh, thanks. Yeah, I thought it was I thought it was like fun siblings because I like the Janice has always only ever said nice things about his sister. Um, so I think we've established that Janice like cares deeply for his sister already. And so like this is him coming at a at a point of care and concern, and he's already he's already stressed. Yeah, um, and now he sees his sister as the plague, and uh he's I think projecting some some frustrations onto her as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yeah, yeah. And not to jump forward too much to the end of the episode, but now Janice might be getting the plague. Now Janice might have it as well.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

I mean, we're really seeing an a new side to Janice this trip so far.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Yeah. He's just trying his best. Yeah, he's trying his best. Trying to squest his best. Trying to squest.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

That's where it came from, man. Um, I I do think it is it is fun to have Janice now be potentially infected, and also because he was giving Cersei so much shit about being infected.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

I don't know if he was giving her shit about being infected. He was giving it careful. Yeah, not being careful. Yes, which and then yeah, and then the sense of how Janice got it was him. Jumping on the back of a plague beast.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Yes, yeah, yes, yeah, yeah. From jumping onto it, that probably was not a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Not that it mechanically changed anything. No, it happened either way, but uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

But I'm glad that's how it happened. Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah, I liked Lucy in the bedroom.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Um trying on the clothes, yeah, mimicking uh mimicking Whisper's face in the mirror. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Oh, and I I loved Whisper. I also loved Whisper.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Whisper was fun.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Like, I want to like I'm not this guy, but I would have a like a plushy doll of Whisper. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Yeah. I liked the idea of Janice's sister having just like a like a silent, big, weird guy that she's just like like not even like a familiar, just like a guy she works with, but like like a cute little pair.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Who comes when he's called. Yeah, she has a little death whistle. And I that was cool.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

I have a question for you, Spencer, because there we come into this, we come to this place for um we come, we come into this town and there's some there's a mystery, right? And we're trying to figure out what's going on. Um it feels like you gave us a lot in this episode. Yeah. And like I was just curious whether you you were planning on, you know, divulging that much so I kind of like early on, or I think I wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

I was hoping to get a little more juice out of that. I think that um with the way that I'm trying to run this arc, that's a little different from the last one, is I'm trying to be less strict with myself on like the plotting of like, okay, this will probably happen around then, and this is where they'll probably learn this, and just be like, okay, if they figure something out or like meet certain conditions early on, then something might happen early on, and that's uh that's okay. And now it just becomes a question of like, okay, if that information is available earlier, how do we keep heightening and like furthering now that we've removed the tension of what is this guy's deal? Right. We have the now the added tension of the other of like yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

You're I think you're I think you're you're right. And like the I think that taking that one uh you know piece off the board, yeah, or like kind of, right? Like it's not like completely off the board, but it's like, okay, we know that this one guy is not a threat. We don't need to go like hunt this guy down. Yeah. I think also saves us in like, I don't know if that is in another uh reality where we don't get that information, or maybe Cersei escapes without Janice noticing, yeah. And then we're like, okay, let's go find this guy. Yeah. And then we find them both together or something in the rookery. Kissing. Well, he doesn't have a mouse. They don't have a mouse. He's like a thousand years old. Okay. But I think that like that's another that's another episode. But it doesn't like us knowing that this one guy, Whisper, is um not bad, yeah, does not take the Erebos uh like uh temple, what's going on there, completely solve that mystery. You know what I mean? So I just wanted to, I was curious about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

The Erebos lore was interesting, and I don't know if you already talked about this as far as like in this sense, he's sort of taking on both a uh Hades and sort of a Prometheus role in this of like loving humans, uh giving them fire, um or or various gifts, including the box. Um that's a Pandora's box. I was thinking of my own, but I forgot. Yes. Um, and so it was very interesting to see that sort of like other aspect of him, and like also he doesn't know what's going on, or he he does know what's going on, but like the true who's trying to exploit this, especially seeing Byron's name, yeah, I liked that. Is like is like a little sprinkle of like because we know Byron is now associated with both the unbound and with Europhone, with Eurofon and company. And so it's like it could be we still don't really know who's maneuvering this because Byron was a member of both and could be acting on either behalf.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Um, so we didn't get any closer to solving that mystery.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah, well, and it seems like he sold it to like this antiquities dealer who then sold it to Yes. Like I i there's a question of like his knowledge of it even.

SPEAKER_04 9:10

Well, and how he got it in the first place. Yeah. Like, was it something that Eurofon and Caladeus and that team found on their travels and had he stole from them and sold it for his own um unbound shit, and they uh uh are upset about that because that was for them separate and once he like left their group. I yes that's part of that.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

I think it wow, that was great.

SPEAKER_04 9:32

Yeah, write that down, Spencer. Good job, Sari. Hold on. When when that is what it is, you'll know. Not that I I called it, not that I wrote it.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Okay, yeah. You know, and if if if that is what it is, we'll edit in this moment of you being like, I think this is what it is. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Yeah, yeah. My my theory is that it's it's more unbound in my mind, in that like the way that I think you've you've uh set up sort of this unb of the unbound, is that there's there's many different agents and there's many different like factions doing different things. Like we've we've uh messed with like the seal, the seal faction.

SPEAKER_05 10:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Um and this one sounds like maybe they want to, if this box brought the gods and they don't like the gods, that this would be a tool that they would potentially use somehow to reverse that and put the gods back in the box. That's my theory. Oh, that's a good one too. When that happens, just use it.

SPEAKER_04 10:35

I think, yeah, Byron stole it on behalf of the unbound, just whether or not it was for the ships or if it was for to putting them back in, or they're working together and it's both factions of the unbound together.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

And to piggyback on that, it sounds like at this warehouse where the box at least was at some point. At the warehouse with uh the Minotaur and sword fight, yeah. Where you know, Matt's like, are they putting people in the box? I'm like, is did they get Mogus at this warehouse and put him in the box? So interestingly missing. Um the way Spencer said that was like, that's a great idea. Um, that means I'm probably way off base. But uh this thought of what minotaur was there, was it was it Byron's first mate, or was it something Mogus, or was it just another Minotaur? And how many Minotaurs are we gonna throw in here to keep adding red herrings? Yeah, yeah. I'll not know. Spencer knows.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

Um but probably a minute ton.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

But uh, but my first thought was like, oh, we're dealing with gods and like was Mogus here? Like, does he's been interesting? He's been gone for a lot longer than a year, though. Yeah, he's been gone for like 30 years. Yeah. So um, I don't know, but was he in the box? Did he get out of the box?

SPEAKER_04 11:48

Right. Has he been in the box for 30 years? Right. And then has recently gotten out of the box and is now in Ruby.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

Mmm.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Who knows? Where did Ruby come from? Did Ruby go through this book?

SPEAKER_03 12:00

Is Ruby from the box? Ruby's from Dean Apoloco.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Ruby's also still That means crazy chicken.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Is that real? In my mind, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Okay, cool. So it's real in your mind. Yeah, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Come on, crazy chicken.

SPEAKER_04 12:17

Yeah, it's it cocomo.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, I'm but I'm intrigued by the mini what what a Minotaur was doing there. Yeah, and how they destroyed everything.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

So many questions. So many questions. So many questions. Did you like Janice's Sailor Moon transformation? That was really fun.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

I did like that. That was fun.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

I really love the idea of doing a Sailor Moon transformation to get more goth.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

I love the idea of you doing all this and Cersei just rolling her eyes behind you.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yes, yeah. I I really was leading into the brother-sister team-up because it one, it feels very Midwestern for brother-sister team-ups to occur.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Um and I just think they're they're a fun pair to explore. Because I think Janice is like it's less um that he wants, I think he's at the point now that he's experienced everything he has. He tried to do it alone. He's already come to terms with it, he can't, and that's why he brought everyone else in the first place.

SPEAKER_05 13:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

And so now I think he understands like I do think he has like a deep empathetic understanding of Cersei trying to go and do it alone. And he's like in team up mode. He's like, I can't stop you. I understand that. Let's team up and let's be in this together.

SPEAKER_05 13:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Um, and I think if he does end up getting the plague, he will he'll probably not have any perspective change. He'll just feel more that they're in this together now and they have to beat it together.

unknown 13:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

And I think he'll be he'd be fine with it.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

It's it's it's interesting. We'll see what happens there.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah, I mean, I I literally don't think it heightens the stakes for Janice at all because he's already like this is his whole motivation, and also his beloved sister is uh inflicted. So uh afflicted.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

The only thing it does is if you get something, if you the your symptom is something that's like in within seven days, you know, then it just shortens the timeline.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

The the ring symptom.

SPEAKER_04 14:17

Yeah, it feels like a tides of chaos roll.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

What else is new?

SPEAKER_00 14:26

If yeah, Janice might start turning into a tree.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

I feel like you really like that.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Yeah. Or ghost or a werewolf. I don't know. I threw in werewolf. I don't know. There's a lot of magical deflections. Sorry, I'm done. I'm done. Cut cut me off.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Yeah, I tried to bring it home with the oh, it's a warehouse. Oh, there it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Yeah, yeah. I want to talk about the battle bros. Um the of Rex and Patch. Patch was bro?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

That was really cute. Just like protecting each other.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Yeah, just like because like uh Rex used interception and then Patch had Clanky use uh deflect attack, and they were just like both, it was like for one moment it was like displacer beast, displacer beast, patch and rex, and they were doing damage and like getting it done. And it was like I was like, that's badass. And it actually at that point I was like, I was like, I was like, do I make this uh combative and like jealous of Janice and be like Cersei, look how cool they are. Why aren't we looking like that right now?

SPEAKER_02 15:28

I think that that's very funny. Yeah, it was cool because like typically Rex and Lucy are right next to each other. Yeah. And um I think it'll be a fun, especially because Lucy is now a lot uh hardier than she was before.

SPEAKER_04 15:45

He doesn't need Rex as much.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Exactly. And I think that'll be a fun thing to explore.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Emotionally. I think that might be Rex's B story in this arc.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

I feel like it's also fun that so many of you have things that stop each other from getting hit. Yeah. Like it's infuriating as a DM, but it's it's it's really fun that like all of you have like I subtract 10 damage, I subtract eight damage, I sub, you know, roll again. Like that's fun.

SPEAKER_04 16:10

Roll again.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I mean, and there's and there's ways for you to get around that. Like my weakness is is I can deflect attacks once. So if you split up the three attacks, then you burn one of mine immediately.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I also was like, I wasn't this was not this was intended to be a maybe you'll get sick encounter and not a yeah, you like you're having to spend everything you had, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

What was the DC? Was it like was it five? It's twelve. Oh, it's twelve. Oh that's higher than I thought it would be, it was gonna be. I don't know. I only have a plus one, so I was almost like at a twelve, I had to roll an 11 at least three times.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

It was gonna be something where if you fail the first one, then you have one round where you are like poisoned condition and you have to fail it a second time, but then dramatically at the end of the episode, I was like, I don't want you to roll a second time, I want you to just get it. Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_04 16:58

I think it's so good too.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

And that's where you can fudge it.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, because it's a rule that had not been established. Uh and so if you what it was gonna be was if you had failed the first role and then succeeded on the second role, you'd be immune for a day. So that we wouldn't be like, you know, but so that might be what it is in the future.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

I also really like the idea of Janice having to counteract the effects of the plague in order to fight the plague.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, it's gonna be so cool. Well, I we don't know what's happening, um, but I'm excited to find out. We'll see. As am I, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:29

Me too.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

As are the listeners, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_04 17:31

I hope.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Well, thank you all so much for listening to this and talk back. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

Thanks for being a patron. Thanks for being a patron. Thanks for being a friend.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Thank you for your patronage.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Yes, thank you for your patience, a friend. Anyone have anything they want to take us out on?

SPEAKER_02 17:49

I'm so ready to have a slice of pizza.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

I'm so ready to have a slice of pizza.

SPEAKER_04 17:53

Yeah, we're gonna now that we're hangry, now that we've hit a certain point, we're gonna pizza point, pizza owls.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

It's actually pizza point right now. Yeah. Well, as we hit pizza point, we're gonna hit pizza point. Pizza point! Pizza pizza. Pizza point.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Pizza point.