This Party Sucks (Pride 2026)

Kenzie Tartaglione:

Hello everyone and Happy Pride. Welcome to the month of June here on queerPG. And we're gonna be playing two one shots this month. This first one that you'll be hearing today is called This Party Sucks, and we'll get into what this game is all about in a moment. But I'd like to have some introductions first. So my name is Kenzie Tartaglione. I am the creative director of Queer PG. You've heard me a lot on this channel, and I'll pass it along to Emma, if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself.

Emma Kocar:

Hi everybody, my name is Emma. I am the founder and creative director of the Tabletop Tale Spinners Network, where we spin a lot of horror-driven tales and uplift more marginalized voices in the process, particularly in our GM seats. And yeah, that's me. I occasionally get to show up as a player, so super excited to be here.

Ruiz:

Ruiz. Right now I am in a long-term game of City of Mist over on Rollers Joint. I play Montserrat, a construction union boss who's definitely lot not mostly based on Vi from Arcane.

Kenzie:

No way.

Emma:

Incredible.

Ruiz:

No no no no no. She just fights a lot. It's fine. It's normal.

Kenzie:

This Party Sucks is a game about being a 20-something who is badly processing a recent breakup. You will play out a piece of their story as they attend a series of three parties while trying and failing not to think about their ex. This is a queer and trans game in many senses. It is by a queer and trans author based on an album of music by a queer and trans musician, and if you want to play it true to form, your protagonist will be queer and or trans in some way. They may not know that about themselves yet or have complicated feelings about it, but it is a factor in their life.

Be tender with your protagonist. They are in pain and you are not seeing them at their best, but they are not an inherently tragic character. Their queerness and transness, especially, are not tragic. Someday they will feel much better than they do now, and this breakup and entire phase of life will fade gently into their past.

This is not a story of that warm and gentle future, but the potential for such a future is an important thread weaving through the tough and messy time where the protagonist resides. Believe in that future for them as you play, and when they stumble, know that they are moving towards something better. So, before we jump into the actual play of this game, we three players here have to describe our protagonist.

I'll start here first with a hairstyle since it's the first on the list. I think our protagonist should have a wolf cut. I think a lot of layers and maybe like dark hair, like dark black or dark brown or even like a really dark blue with like a bunch of streaks of lighter colors throughout it.

Emma:

I think just getting the image of of this particular character, I think music would be a good hobby for them. They're very much like someone who listens to all types of music, depending on where they're at, drifts from genre to genre. So like right now they're in their sort of like - I don't know how to describe it other than like a lot of sad songs with like guitar guitar backing era for for the breakup songs.

Kenzie:

Like do they play music? Are they just really into like collecting records? Like what is it…?

Emma:

I think they're more a record collector. They very much all over their apartment or home or wherever we have them situated. I think they display their favorites and then they've got like the shelves upon shelves of them stored elsewhere.

Kenzie:

Ruiz, can you pick a job or a collection of jobs or even a reason if they don't have a job right now?

Ruiz:

Maybe has like a part time job at a a music store. Not a not necessarily like a record shop, but they help like sell instruments. It's like a small local thing. Tune guitars here and there. Yeah. But mostly they attend community college.

Kenzie:

Back to me with a favorite item of clothing. For some reason, this protagonist in my brain is like from - like we're like in the nineties, just with the vibes that they've been giving off so far. We don't have to be, it just feels that way. So I like this idea of like a really patch-filled, like leather jacket, or maybe more like a jean jacket with just a bunch of patches on it. And I think it was probably thrifted and so not all of these patches are theirs, but they have added to it over the years. Probably like a lot of if there's any like political affiliations on it, probably like leaning like democratic socialism in like the vibes of the patches on this jacket.

Ruiz:

A lot of like lot of like roses and stuff, that sort of like -

Kenzie:

Yeah.

Ruiz:

- motif of like bread and roses, food not bombs, that sort of stuff.

Kenzie:

Okay, Emma, something they miss about their ex

Emma:

I love the idea of this being a situation where they miss their ex's pet more than they miss their ex. So I think their ex had a I'm just gonna go with the corgi, because that's the first dog breed I thought of, but I think the ex had a little corgi that they took care of more than the ex did. And of course the ex isn't going to give them their dog in the breakup. So unfortunately that dog that they bonded with, is not gonna be around anymore and is more what they miss than the ex themselves.

Kenzie:

Ooh, okay. Ruiz, something they don't miss about their ex.

Ruiz:

This came into my head when Emma said corgi. Our character's ex was a like massive taboo, like obsessed with the UK, and like knew all these facts about like the the royal family and was like nominally left wing, but until anyone said anything bad about Princess Diana, you know, that sort of very intense like very intense vibe. Never been, isn't British.

Kenzie:

They don't miss the anglophile that their ex was. A habit they tend to show when nervous. I think they have a tendency to pick at their nail beds. And so they have like almost a forever like bit of scarring around a couple nail nails on their hands. And so they've mostly broken this habit, I do think, but whenever things get really touchy, they go back to it and they start just kind of picking.

And I guess we can all decide this one together, these last two together. the gender. I know we've been using they pronouns, so we can continue with that or we can be more specific.

Emma:

I’m down for they/them, for the pronouns. I think that works, especially with kind of the aesthetic that we've set up. I think a very non-binary character makes sense.

Ruiz:

Because like this whole thing has thrown them for such a loop. They're sort of you know, describes themselves as in between jobs, they're sort of in between genders, they're sort of still figuring their stuff out because of certain comments their ex made.

Emma:

Oof. Yeah.

Kenzie:

Okay. And then we just need a name. A name for this individual.

Emma:

I feel like Raven is a very good like non-binary like name for the aesthetic.

Ruiz:

Maybe trying to go for like a like a corvid like plumage with the with the hair.

Kenzie:

Alrighty, locking it in, Raven. The game itself talks about setting up a palette to set your tone, but we already have our lines and veils, and we can talk just kind of like openly as we get into like discussing what type of parties we're gonna be at, more about like the tone of these parties we're gonna be going into. But I think these are some good questions here as well to talk about is what type of region or community might your protagonists live in? And I know we talked about them being a student at a community college, which I do believe fosters a bit of a different sort of ability to create friends than when you go to like a campus university because you're not necessarily all living in the same place. So like are we in a kind of a small town? Are all of their friends still their friends from high school? Have they been able to make friends at their college or are their friends - or are we, you know, is none of that true? Are we in, you know, a city? is their community their actual neighbors? What are you guys thinking?

Ruiz:

I like the idea of maybe just like just recently graduated, so like small age town or city still has friends at the high school, sort of like how like how Rachel, Kurt and Santana were always in McKinley in Glee, despite them living in New York and it being like a four hour drive. Maybe like a couple very older friends and then up but also has some like high school.

Kenzie:

Okay, so like we've we've moved away from where we grew up, but we still have enough connections that we're back a lot. What kind of events, elements in their life would you guys be interested in exploring that is related to or separate from this breakup? I mean, we've all also talked about, already talked about that they're kind of like in between genders, so there might be a little bit of gender expression that they're working on and trying to figure out for themselves. But is there anything else? Like, are we are we working on trying to break from the mold of like, you know, that I every year I come back a gajillion times to my hometown. Do I need to just, you know, get out there and make my own life? Like, is this holding me back?

Ruiz:

b Yeah, I like that idea. Wanting to maintain that because it's a comfort and in a lifeline, but at the same time like, if I really want to change, do is it best to just rip the band aid off, you know?

Kenzie:

I think what would make this even a little bit sweeter is the idea that this ex is like they were together in high school and then they were still together when they moved away. So maybe they're like two years into college or something when this breakup happens. So everyone back home knows this person and they can't really escape it.

Emma:

That could be really interesting. I also love the idea of sort of exploring. I think it would be fun to sort of like include the exploration of like breaking away from some of those like baked in routines that just become a thing when you're with a person for so long. Cause especially if they're like a high school sweetheart that went into college kind of deal, that's when they were a really young person moving into a more adult time in their life than sort of forming a bunch of routines that now are suddenly not things that they can do. Like if they had a regular time that they texted or called each other every day, things like that. It's like, oh, this is a thing that should be happening in my day. But this person's gone. So I can't do that now. And sort of how you cope and move on from those things could be an interesting thing to explore as well.

Ruiz:

Especially since they they moved out together. So they probably gotta place together. So maybe Raven is like crashing with a classmate. Or, you know, the ex is the one who moved out either way it's just a very major disruption to the data.

Kenzie:

As for kind of the vibes of these parties, you guys can nix this idea, but I had the idea, and it and it kind of works, I think, with the fact that we're talking about like coming home a lot, is that it's like a trio of holiday parties. So we have the Halloween party, we have the Friendsgiving dinner party, and then we have the New Year's Eve party.

Emma:

That’s fun. I like that.

Ruiz:

I like that.

Kenzie:

So in this game, one person plays the part protagonist. One per person plays the other people and then one person plays the venue and then with each party those roles shift. So for Halloween party, does anybody have an urge to do one of those three?

Ruiz:

I kinda wanna be the venue for the Halloween.

Kenzie:

You know, I think it would be fun to play the protagonist at the dinner party if you want to take it for this one.

Emma:

Sounds good.

Kenzie:

We’re gonna be at this Halloween party. The protagonist needs to pick a cope. You don't have to choose ones they list, but pretty much a cope is that you would pick something before each one of these new parties, and it kind of describes what you have been, what the protagonist has been attempting to do in this process of the breakup.

Emma:

With this being the first party after the breakup, I think that Raven's cope leading up to this point has been to start trying to make music for the first time. They've collected so many records. And I think their ex always kind of had this this kind of saying when they would play music on the record player. They would kind of just in passing, when they were arguing, there were some comments made of, hey, at least it's not a drum set or something. And I think they latched on to that to the point of, I've listened to so much music, I have so many thoughts about music. Maybe it's time for me to try to make some music. And so I think they went out and bought like a cheap keyboard, got a discount because they work at the local music store, and just started trying to teach themselves piano.

Kenzie:

Okay, Ruiz, as the venue you have to pick or create a complication that will affect the party.

Ruiz:

The complication for for this party is that it is unseasonably hot. It's October and it's like uncomfortably warm.

Kenzie:

And then I, as the other people, have to pick the party guests here. I actually think what would be super interesting is that if this was a Halloween party put on by one of their college classmates, and maybe it's the first time that they don't go home for the Halloween party that is usually thrown. And so they're kind of thrown in. They kind of know these people, but they're more like acquaintances and they are old friends. So they're kind of coming into like a completely new situation.

During the party, the protagonist picks moves from our lists and describe their related actions, speaking in character to whatever degree they find comfortable. Other people play the other attendees of the party and/or friends and contacts the protagonist texts or calls. The venue describes the physical and social nature of the party, sights, sounds, smells, overheard words, people glimpsed in passing, and can play additional party attendees or friends if needed. The venue can add both positive details and further complications to the space. So while we're starting out with it being unseasonably hot, at any moment during the scene, Ruiz can come in and throw another complication in there.

The protagonist's moves reflect elements of their physical and emotional state. There are external moves and there are internal moves. For the external moves, the protagonist places a token. So we have three tokens per scene. And you use a token when you use an external move. There is no need to use a token when you do an internal move, you will simply describe that move. If the protagonist runs out of these tokens, that is a sign that the social energy is getting low and that we will soon leave the party if they haven't done so already. The party ends when the protagonist reaches a point where they think about their ex and we will collaborate together in this final move to figure out how we bring the scene to a close, the party to a close, and then we will switch roles and pick new copes and complications and party guests.

When we get to those parts, there are actual party moves and the think about your ex moves that I will read through as well to explain the nature of this game to our audience. But for now, I think we should begin, if you agree, with our protagonist, Raven, approaching the house and Ruiz kind of describing what they are walking into.

Ruiz:

There’s a kind of nice suburb not too far from the college. A couple people who are more local live here. And Sabrina, who's known to like throw these big parties, she's sort of she's got one of the bigger houses out of most of the the friend group. So she's, you know, invited everyone over. It's a big old Victorian. All but the very top floor is open to the party. There are there's a bunch of seating outside as well as inside large wraparound porch. And there is a lot of people outside because because of the unseasonably warm weather, it’s kinda uncomfortable to be packed up inside with all those people. So while there's a lot of people, it's not a very dense party. It's very sprawling. There's a lot of locations and little hideaways. but there's usually always at least one or two people around…

Kenzie:

If you wouldn't mind also, since this is a Halloween party, describing the decor a little bit, are we like - is Sabrina's house like harvest time or are we really like scary Halloween?

Ruiz:

The porch is has like lots of cornucopia and gourds, maybe one or two skeletons in silly hats. But inside is there's lots of fake gore. Paint splatter on the walls, fake weapons dangling everywhere, chains from the ceiling. There's a really strong smelling cocktails in fake blood bags that some that some people are walking around with. They're committing very hard, but also there's kids in the neighborhood so in case, you know, one of them happens to walk by they don't see anything too untoward, you know. Sabrina’s parents have had enough phone calls about that.

Emma:

Raven, upon arriving, parking their car and stepping out to sort of take it in. The innocence of the outside of the house definitely makes the inside decor even more of a shock. They feel like they walked from one of those like suburban Halloween parties that has like the corn maze and all of these activities set up for little kids right into the scariest haunted house that they would find back home and they don't hate it, but they definitely weren't prepared. I think they walk into a couple of dangling chains from the doorway and are like, when did those get there? Push them aside, move past a couple people to go first get themselves in the mood to party. They haven't really been in the mood to party in a while and this is already turning out to be a a bigger party than what they would have expected if they'd actually gone home. But home is not where they want their mind to be right now. I think as they grab one of the blood bag drinks, they have to wrestle with the top a little bit to get a drink.

Ruiz:

But do you know what Raven's costume is? And I have a suggestion if you don't.

Emma:

I’d love to hear your suggestion.

Ruiz:

As as a bit, since I think maybe since they're they're experimenting very heavily now, maybe Raven is a new choice of name, and as a bit, they've arrived as Brandon Lee's The Crow.

Emma:

Oooooh.

Ruiz:

Greased up their black hair, white face paint, you know, their denim jacket has a larger leather jacket over it.

Kenzie:

I think that's perfect because you walk into this house and you realize that there are two separate categories of individuals here. And Raven fits in with one of them who are the people who have gone all out on costumes. They are knowable characters. Some of them are like really, really good cosplay style costumes. And then you have the other side of the party here, which includes Sabrina, who, as you're like picking up a blood back, is directing this gentleman, like almost looks like a butler, but maybe he's just dressed up that way and an actual friend of hers, into like a moving drinks around the kitchen. And she is wearing just like a very tight black tank top crop top with very tight black jeans and cat ears and that is her costume. And she kind of notices you as you're grabbing a drink and she goes,

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Raven, I'm so glad you could come. Nice to see you at the party for the first time.

Emma (Raven):

Hey, yeah, it's good to see you too. This is quite the party. I love what you've done with the decorations.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

I had a vision.

Emma (Raven):

And you executed it really well.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

It’s a little bit of a conglomeration of themes, but I think you know like every room kind of is different, feels a little different. The outside, my parents, that was their choice, and then I got control of the inside.

Emma (Raven):

Nice, nice. Yeah, I'll definitely have to check all of it out. especially you said each room's a different theme. I will have to remember that. Start trying to pick out some horror movies.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Well, you know, there is also a game.

Kenzie:

And she points down onto the table where the blood bags were and there's pieces of paper and it's kind of like a bingo. When you go into the rooms you can check off the bingo of the movies that they represent.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, perfect.

Emma:

And they scoop one up and

Kenzie (Sabrina):

There will be a winner at the end of the night if you're still here, so stick around.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, what’s the price?

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Just like a not lifetime supply of candies. No, we get this like fun size bag of candy bars that I got from the pharmacy.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, nice! I will do my best to stick around.

Kenzie:

And she kind of goes back off,

Kenzie (Sabrina):

No Derek, no, Derek, not there, over there!

Kenzie:

And starts directing party setup.

Emma:

And Raven just lets them handle it. Takes a moment to finish the blood bag.

Ruiz:

It is strong.

Emma:

They take that in, immediately regret chugging it. If that means they don't have to necessarily come back for more drinks, all the better. As they toss the empty blood bag in whatever trash area has been set up to make sure that they're not just throwing drinks on the ground. They kind of begin to peek around a little more, and they've been given a thing to do with the bingo. And so I think in order to find their way in with the rest of the crowd - this isn't their usual crowd that they're used to from home. They're used to being surrounded by people they know. But being surrounded by people they know would lead them to the person they don't want to think about. And so they need some new faces. So I think as they start moving into other rooms, I am gonna use my first party move, or first external move with the token, to offer to help someone out.

I think I see someone standing there with the bingo. And I'm gonna use that as my in. And as Raven brings themselves over, sees someone standing around, would just kind of mosey up next to them and say,

Emma (Raven):

Are are you trying to figure this thing out too?

Kenzie:

You walk up to this individual who is Sailor Moon and she turns to you and she goes,

Kenzie (Sophia):

I’m stuck on this one, I think. Do you have any thoughts?

Ruiz:

This particular room is just covered in - you know Sabrina has a couple art friends so the heads that are mounted on the wall are to a troubling degree realistic and it goes through different parts of history, there’s little plaques underneath each one that has like a name and a short little bio and there's lots of swords, a lot of katanas, and Raven puts together that the movie this is referencing is Highlander, which isn't specifically horror movie, but you do remember Sabrina saying something along the lines of like living forever would be the worst punishment. So maybe she thinks it's a horror movie. And Raven knows it because it has a killer soundtrack.

Emma:

Raven takes this in, kind of balks at the the very realistically painted heads mounted to the wall, looks back at the Sailor Moon girl next to them and says,

Emma (Raven):

I can't say I blame you for missing this one. It's not even technically a horror movie. But I guess Sabrina decided that Highlander counts as a horror movie.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Oh, ah, well -

Kenzie:

And marks the spot on the bingo card and goes,

Kenzie (Sophia):

Well, I have never heard of that movie before.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, I would recommend it if you are okay with gore.

Emma:

Points to the the heads as as proof.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Yeah.

Emma (Raven):

But it's not really scary. It does have a really good soundtrack though.

Kenzie (Sophia):

You know it well, then?

Emma (Raven):

Yeah, I'm I care more about music usually and Queen did a really good job with the music on that one.

Kenzie (Sophia):

I do know I do know who that is, which is a plus for me in this conversation, I think.

Emma (Raven):

Absolutely. Are you a more of a movie person, music person? What kind of stuff are -

Kenzie:

And she holds her hand out. She goes,

Kenzie (Sophia):

I’m Sophia, by the way.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, Raven, nice to meet you.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Nice to meet you. I I don't know if I'm one over the other. I like movies, I like music. I don't think that I'm like an aficionado in in any of them, but I am really into costuming stuff. I don't do it myself, but I like it, so fashion sort of history stuff is cool.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, awesome. That is not my area of expertise necessarily, but I would say given the the costume that you have great taste.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Thanks.

Emma (Raven):

Of course.

Kenzie (Sophia):

I don't think I've I've seen you around before. I mean Sabrina's not like a really close friend. I was kind of invited by somebody else who was invited, but I'm not sure that we have any classes together.

Emma (Raven):

Oh, gotcha. No, Sabrina's a classmate of mine as well. Not super close, but she did give me the invite. So I'm just kind of here to make some friends. I haven't made too many around college necessarily.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Oh, are you new? Are you - is it your first year here?

Emma (Raven):

Second.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Okay. yeah, I guess I guess like freshman year can be rough.

Emma (Raven):

Mm-hmm .It was a lot of sticking to the people I didn't know, but now I'm trying to branch out a little.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Well, I'm glad that we met then.

Emma (Raven):

Yeah, absolutely. what major are you? Out of curiosity.

Kenzie (Sophia):

I’m - business. Boring, I know. Just you know, my dad thinks that it's the most secure I could do, so yeah, just business.

Emma (Raven):

That sounds like a dad thing to say.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Yeah. But you know, maybe maybe I could you know, fashion is a business. Maybe there's something like that later on. I don't think that's what he had in mind.

Emma (Raven):

If he's gonna push you towards something that he wants you to do, why not make the most out of it, even if it's finding a loophole?

Kenzie (Sophia):

Is your major music related?

Emma (Raven):

Oh, no, I collect music more than I make it. I'm trying to learn, but I don't think -

Kenzie (Sophia):

Oh, that’s awesome.

Emma (Raven):

- starting with college classes is probably the place to do it. No, I went for the more the education route. No specific direction in mind yet, but…

Kenzie (Sophia):

Well if you learn - if you - if you learn how to make music maybe you could be a music teacher.

Emma (Raven):

That was a part that I'd considered, but not a lot. That could be fun.

Kenzie (Sophia):

My little sister does music therapy. That's an interesting - I didn't know that existed, but she really likes it. I think it's really helpful for her, so.

Emma (Raven):

Nice. Yeah, that's that's not one I've had much experience with either. Maybe I'll have to do some more exploring of what majors there are before I make a decision.

Kenzie (Sophia):

I’m gonna throw myself under the bus here again with my lack of movie knowledge. What is your costume?

Emma (Raven):

Oh, this is from The Crow.

Kenzie (Sophia):

(sighs) I haven't seen that either.

Emma:

And I think Raven just keeps going into some more about the movies.

Ruiz:

As you move into the next room, this one's a little more easier. It's very much The Ring. You know, there's a T there's CRT buzzing in the corner, it's all painted black. There's like a but there's like a glow-in-the-dark painted outline of someone crawling across the ceiling. But as as you enter this room and you you're sort of like giving a little spiel about The Crow to Sophia, your trench coat sort of blasts up in the back a little bit as the air kicks on. You know, Sabrina's boyfriend Carlos is an electrical engineer, so he must have figured out how to turn the air on and the temperature gets much, much more gun this way.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Oh wow, I wish I had known about the heat thing before I - I mean you - that's like leather, that's really at least I have a skirt, you know, but ooh. That's a lot better.

Emma (Raven):

I made mistake of wearing my jacket under this, so honestly I might just stand here for a little bit. this is really nice.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Well I'm gonna continue trying to fill out this bingo card. I'll take free candy any day. But if we run into each other again, just you know, maybe I'll need more help.

Emma (Raven):

Yeah, absolutely. feel free to come find me. I I don't think I'm going too far. I'll at least be somewhere around here.

Kenzie (Sophia):

Okay.

Kenzie:

And she looks at you like she wants to say something else or or offer something more and then instead just says,

Kenzie (Sophia):

It was nice to meet you.

Emma (Raven):

Nice to meet too, Sophia.

Kenzie:

And she walks off into the party.

Emma:

As she goes, there is definitely a moment where Raven kind of pauses and as this air kind of buffets them and blows back the trench coat again. they move out of the doorway, first and foremost, so that they're not A, hitting anyone with the back of their trench coat, or B, blocking the doorway for anyone else who might be exploring this as well. I think they take a moment to be like, hey, that went far better than I expected. For hole-ing up in my apartment and not talking to anyone for two weeks, that was a win. And kind of just like takes a moment to congratulate themselves on: hey, you went out, you met a new person, you talked like a normal human being. Congratulations. Reflects on that before making sure that they've checked off each of the rooms that they've visited so far. And then go back to exploring the house.

Kenzie:

I think kind of like as the night goes on you notice that the individuals attending this party, number one, more people arrive, it gets louder. Also, people become more intoxicated and many become more handsy with each other than maybe polite PDA allows for. And so you kind of like have to duck around couples in doorways on couches. Some in couple's costumes, some very much not, maybe didn't know each other before this moment in time, as as the party kind of continues on into the nights.

Ruiz:

Sabrina and her friends are all, the the only thing they could settle on is witches familiar. So of course Sabrina's, you know, the black cat. There's some of like you know, another girl, another friend of hers with a little bird beak. They're trying to they're trying to sort of like shepherd some of the people who are very clearly - just so people aren't going at it on the furniture in front of everyone, just trying to get them upstairs to, you know, to some of the actual bedrooms. Like we know we can't stop them, so we're just gonna try to put over there.

Kenzie:

As Sabrina is walking up the stairs to do this, the friend who has the bird beak on and is very clearly a raven is walking up with her and Sabrina goes,

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Wait, wait, wait, wait, Raven, Raven, Raven!

Kenzie:

And just starts pointing at you and her friend who is dressed as a raven.

Emma (Raven):

Hi. Oh, nice! Nice costume.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

That’s all.

Kenzie:

And then goes continues up the stairs.

Emma (Raven):

Sabrina?

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Yeah.

ERSorry, I'm not used to I haven't been to too many parties around here. Is this a -

Emma:

And they gesture to all the kissing.

Emma (Raven):

Is this usually what happens around this time?

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Yeah, the blood bags really get to people's heads.

Emma (Raven):

Got it. Thanks for the heads up.

Emma:

And they look at how many more more rooms that they still have to check out. Realize that they've still got like four to go. And all of them are upstairs. And realize they're probably not getting any free candy today. I think I'm gonna use the second token of the evening to kind of we're to call this quote unquote sending a passive aggressive message. Just say in passing to Sabrina before Sabrina leaves. Just be like,

Emma (Raven):

Got it. Well, hopefully they keep that upstairs moving forward.

Kenzie:

I think her eyebrows just kind of quirk down.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Sorry if if you're uncomfortable that people like, I don't know, love each other.

Emma (Raven):

It’s not that, I just I wasn't expecting everything to be so…

Emma:

And they're starting to stumble because they realize that this is more them not wanting to think about what - the fact that the person they would probably rather be kissing is not here. And the fact that they still want to kiss him, they hate that.

Ruiz:

Just as Raven like mentions like they keep that upstairs and like Sabrina gives you that look four more people start like running up you have to move to the side to stand directly in front of Sabrina right after you make that comment. She's probably like a couple stairs up, so she's just staring right down at you as as she says that.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

Listen, I like I don't - this is my parents' house. You know, I don't - people aren't gonna be like, you know, having sex on the couch in the living room, but like I don't know. It's a party. People like to have fun. I can't like stop them.

Emma (Raven):

No, I'm not - I’m sorry. I'm not asking you to stop them. I just little caught off guard. I'll just you know what, I'm gonna go get some air.

Kenzie (Sabrina):

You do that. Hopefully you can come back in with, you know, a little refreshed mind.

Emma (Raven):

Right, yeah. See you later.

Emma:

And there is just very minimal eye contact as they walk away and they're like, well, there goes my good interaction. I fucked that up. I fucked that up. I fucked that up. The whole way out the door to go sit on the front porch and get some air, hopefully.

Ruiz:

Thankfully the front porches cleared out a lot more. Now that the air's on inside the house, there's less and less people. So you so you have one of those like big wicker, you know, swinging porch chairs to yourself.

Emma:

I think as they collapse down on the wicker porch swing, there's a moment where they kind of like let it swing very gently where it's like that thing that you do where you're not trying to make it seem like a swing on the playground, but you're very much using it as something to do to sort of keep your mind off of what your brain is actually thinking about. That whole time they kind of just sit there and slightly swing, take a few deep breaths. They're like, it's okay. If you can find a spot where there are less couples making out, then that'll be fine. You can stay till the end, figure out whether or not Sabrina won, and you can do this. We can be social. You can make friends. And essentially spend that time like talking themselves back up to going back into the party.

Kenzie:

I think when you're out here your phone goes off.

Emma:

They reach in past the trench coat and into their denim jacket pocket where the phone is sitting. Remind themselves that they need to take off the denim jacket 'cause it's way too fucking hot in the house to have both on at the same time.

Kenzie:

And there is a text message from Abby, who is a friend from high school. And I think probably maybe not like a best friend, but somebody that, you know, you know pretty well, who knows you pretty well, just maybe because of proximity. But you have a text from her and it says,

Kenzie (Abby):

I don't wanna bring up anything that you don't wanna talk about, but I just feel like you should get a heads up that maybe stay off Instagram.

Emma:

Oh. Oh no. Their eyes widen and they sit with it for a minute. I think the text reads is read for long enough that Abby might think she got left on read for a minute. Before Raven finally is just finally replies.

Emma (Raven):

Got it, thanks for the heads up. Miss you.

Kenzie:

You just get back three black hearts.

Emma:

And I think Raven repeats the gesture before shutting the phone off for a minute. That message is so ominous. They can't help themselves but wonder what it is about.

Ruiz:

What’s a party without a little bit of doom spiraling, you know?

Emma:

I think it would be appropriate to use that last token for one more lash out because we're not doing great. I think they're gonna look on Instagram. And I think it's gonna eventually lead to the cry publicly. Because they probably should have heeded Abby's warning. I guess that depends on what they find on Instagram.

Kenzie:

You look on Instagram, and the first image, despite the fact that you know there isn't linear time on that app, the first image, you know it's exactly what Abby was talking about. And it is a carousel post of two individuals dressed up as Fred and Daphne, and they are very clearly at the house that the usual Halloween party you go to is at. And you are scrolling through the carousels and at first it's just like the first photo is just like these two individuals next to each other, Damien, your ex, arm around the shoulders of this girl. You scroll again and then it's her looking up at him and you scroll again and then they're kissing in the third and final photo in the carousel.

Ruiz:

Because your phone doesn't get great service here. Between each image is a painfully law blank white circle. Your mind spins and spins on what it could be, then it finally appears and then the same with the next one.

Emma:

I think when that final image of the two of them kissing comes up. At first it's anger. It's been two weeks. Has he really moved on that fast that he only needed two weeks to be making out with somebody else? And then the doom spiral starts. Only that wheel starts taking them through. Why was I not good enough? Why did he only need two weeks to get over me? Before they know it, that white face paint is running down their cheeks and onto their neck in this gross collection of makeup that has that probably should have been waterproof, given the amount of heat and how long they had wanted to stay out, but the night has been ruined. As has their makeup.

Kenzie:

I think that this clearly has become the think about your ex stage of this party.

Emma:

I would agree.

Kenzie:

Yeah. And we've kind of already gone through what the think about your ex stage is, which is you describing the thoughts and actions that lead to one of the situations or a messy situation, which is he has moved on, it seems, in a very short amount of time. And so I think the next stage is you describing how this leads you to flee the party.

Emma:

It takes them a minute to put away their phone and realize that they're crying. It takes them a couple more moments to realize that the people that are outside are already staring. I don't think they've been crying quietly, but they weren't thinking about it in the moment. I think it's the looks of pity that drive them off, because that's exactly what they didn't want. They wanted to be able to go out and still have fun, but not think about whether or not they would run into all the people. that know Damien, that would have to choose one side or another just to speak to either of them. Because of course, in their town there is no staying neutral and staying friends with both. You pick one side or the other, or everyone has thoughts about it. And I think as they see everyone staring, they dart back off towards their car, leaving the wicker chair still swinging a little bit with how fast they get up. Don't say bye to anybody. They're just gone. The only evidence that they were there is that half finished bingo card that's still sitting on the chair.

Kenzie:

And our first party has come to a close. Okay, well, we have to switch roles now. I'll do the protagonist, and then Ruiz, you'll be the other people, and then Emma, you'll be the venue. As we move into our friends giving slash dinner party, we must figure out the copes, the complications, and who the party guests are. I think that - I don't wanna give up the making music cope, but I'm gonna add one on top of that. Cause I feel like that's a long term, you know. This is only like a month after, making music is like a long-term thing. And then I think also, you know, kind of going off what happened and like why Raven fled the party the previous time, I think they've gone dead on socials. They have deleted them all from their phone. There is no longer any social apps happening. For our venue, we need a complication for this dinner party.

Emma:

I’m kind of picturing like, especially with Friendsgivings, I feel like potlucks are very, very common. And so everyone usually brings their best to the potluck. I think the complication this year is someone decided to try a new recipe with something very staple to the Friendsgiving. I think someone tried it decided to try a new stuffing recipe and it did not go well. And now this staple that everyone loved is now just wrong. It's not good.

Ruiz:

But the person who made it is just like the sweetest heart imaginable and is genuinely trying their best.

Kenzie:

And then we need to pick out who the party guests are for this party.

Ruiz:

There’s a couple people getting together for this. This is a college friend Friendsgiving, but Abby from back home is coming.

Emma:

First time trying to mingle the friend groups, yeah.

Kenzie:

Abby is Ravens plus one. Ooh, that could also be another complication. Sorry to step on your toes here, Emma, but the invitation everyone had to bring a plus one.

Ruiz:

I think when like everything went dark on social media, Abby was - despite you like you weren't super close in school, but Abby was the first person to reach out after you went dark on everything. So you're like, okay, there's one solid person. Like you like you said earlier, everyone has to pick sides and Abby very clearly and quickly chose Raven.

Emma:

I think Raven is the only person who brought a plus one that's not their significant other.

Kenzie:

Yeah, yes, a hundred percent.

Ruiz:

Yes. Yes. Also, I do love the idea of a of a rules lawyer for This Party Sucks. Like under the comments of this episode be like the style of the mechanics work actually, you should respect the game, like okay.

Kenzie:

Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna peanut gallery another thing in for party guests. And I think that it would be super interesting if Sophia showed back up as somebody else's partner because I think like there was a little flirtation at the Halloween party with Sophia and the not knowing movies thing. And so having Sophia show up with somebody else because Raven like didn't give her the time of day.

Ruiz:

I was already gonna put Sophia in. That was already a given.

Kenzie:

You know what, Ruiz, I should have just believed in you. I just believed in you.

Ruiz:

We’re just all on the same page, that works great.

Emma:

Everyone arrived a little early to finish cooking whatever they had needed to. And so we are entering this small college apartment already in the midst of the chaos of putting together a Thanksgiving meal. People are all running around trying to find the last minute ingredients that they needed to finish their dishes. A couple folks are already around setting the table. Surrounding them is sort of a mishmash of decorations for the season that whoever's house this is could find in the minimal storage that they have. Or what they could find on sale at the local thrift store, to sort of cobble together some Thanksgiving decorations.

We start our view on a more Thanksgiving themed cornucopia that is sitting in the center of the table, unlike the Halloween one that was outside of Sabrina's house. And we zoom out to a bustling, very tiny kitchen that should not have as many people in it that it currently does. But as everyone sort of squeezes past each other and sets up the food for everyone to grab, sort of buffet style before they find their seat around this crowded apartment. I think we would settle in on Raven somewhere in the other room. Maybe just coming out of the bathroom or something to get away from the crowd as everyone is setting up for mealtime.

Kenzie:

Raven probably should have guessed with the like weird requirement of a plus one to this party, that it was for couples. And maybe they should have not come. Is pretty much what they're feeling at this moment in time. And it's not that this is a repeat of the Halloween party. People are being normal lovey-dovey with each other. They're not making out all over the couch. It's like the middle of the afternoon. But there's an ease that people have with each other that they are missing. And while their friend Abby is here, and it's not the same ease, even though Abby had whispered when they walked through the door that she was more than willing to pretend to be dating Raven if that made things easier. And Raven was like, no. No, we can’t, no, please.

There's also Sophia at this party who Raven never got her number, but she like ran into her a couple times at the school, and it was like very clear that Sophia was interested, but Raven is still caught up on he who must not be named. And now Sophia obviously moved on already too, and now two people have moved on past Raven so quickly and so swiftly and they don't understand what is wrong with them. They thought that they were - not Sophia - but they thought that they were giving everything in this relationship, and none of it seemed to be enough. So they just needed a breather in the bathroom and they do feel refreshed as they walk out back down the short little stubby hallway in this small apartment.

And they walk in and Abby is like the center of attention like she always is, able to talk her way around a room. And Raven just kind of like walks in like, of course. Okay. All right, I'm here now. And walks up, to stand next to Abby and try to join the conversation. Which I think is kind of already using a move, which is talking to a friend.

Ruiz (Abby):

Raven over at the sound booth perfectly timed out, I don't even know where they got this from. Apparently a CD. Pops in a CD and plays the perfect fart noise right as our principal sits down at our commencement ceremony. Howling with laughter. The room was - could not get back on track for half an hour. It was beautiful.

Kenzie:

I’m gonna do an internal move within the external move here. Raven knows what Abby is doing, and there's this complicated feeling of graciousness about it, but also like don't talk don't make me be somebody I can't be. Don't make me the the class clown center of attention here. I can't do that. But is still very grateful for so just kind of like squeezes Abby's shoulder and steps into the conversation goes,

Kenzie (Raven):

Yeah, you know, it was an e it was it was kind of an easy thing. It's not like they could expel me. I was graduating.

Ruiz (Abby):

Still pretty good. Pretty devious.

Kenzie (Raven):

Abby, do you want me to share your terrible high school stories or you good with just sharing mine?

Ruiz (Abby):

First off, I thought that was a brave and honorable deed after everything that man put us through.

Kenzie (Raven):

Okay.

Ruiz (Abby):

And second, I have no terrible stories. I'm a delight.

Kenzie:

Raven sees all the smiling faces who like obviously agree that Abby is a delight. They just give up.

Kenzie (Raven):

Yeah, you know, you know, you're right. if anybody was the troublemaker, it was me.

Ruiz:

There’s a TV in the corner and on like like low volume is the the Thank Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. You know, we're you know, doing this pretty early, pretty traditional. So like a couple people like notice a balloon and there's like other conversations happen. Abby leans into to Raven and just like,

Ruiz (Abby):

The stuffing is sinful. But I think Sabrina made it so just take a couple bites, smile and leave it at that. There’s like blood orange or something.

Kenzie (Raven):

She’s got a thing about that. She was like there was a thing at her Halloween party too. That was like there's like a blood theme going on with that girl. Blood orange stuffing? Abby, how does one do that?

Ruiz (Abby):

I don't know. She heard like citrus is good with chicken and just like chose the wrong citrus. The one wrong citrus.

Kenzie (Raven):

Do I have to eat it at all? Can I just ignore it?

Ruiz (Abby):

They’re gonna notice. She was your friend first. I barely know this people.

Kenzie (Raven):

I barely know these people.

Ruiz (Abby):

You've had months. I had -

Ruiz:

Like checks her watch.

Ruiz (Abby):

- like twenty minutes.

Kenzie (Raven):

Okay, okay. I guess that I should just be grateful that my mom's green bean casserole recipe is flawless. I don't change a single thing.

Ruiz (Abby):

Graduated high school so we know you can read at least.

Kenzie (Raven):

Okay, okay. I don't I didn't invite you here to like neg me.

Ruiz (Abby):

You invited me here to make sure when this happens.

Ruiz:

And like does like a tiny little gesture to all like all the couples like either having their own conversations or canoodling.

Ruiz (Abby):

You had something to do and someone to talk to.

Kenzie:

That was a bit of a call out, Raven feels. Because yeah, sure, obviously, but hitting the nail exactly on the head out loud kinda gets Raven a little bit in the heart.

Kenzie (Raven):

Well then, I should have thanked you in advance, but thank you. Thank you for having my back.

Ruiz (Abby):

Of course, always.

Emma:

As the two of you are sort of wrapping up that conversation, you've been sort of making your way through the the collection of food available. Your green bean casserole seems to be quite a hit, Raven. It's almost halfway gone by the time you even make it to it. And the stuffing, noticeably, not nearly as much of one. There is a collection of other different dishes, mashed potatoes and a very, very good homemade gravy. There's also a sweet potato casserole, a multitude of other side dishes that are staples for any Thanksgiving meal. There's even vegetarian or vegan options for people who want to be a bit more adventurous, I think. For those who are vegetarian or vegan at this party that need those because they can't have what everyone else is having. But I think as you go to sit down, I'm gonna add another complication and have a little fun.

It seems that Abby's tales have been getting to everyone, because Raven, the moment you sit down, you don't know where it came from. But there is a loud fart noise that just echoes out and everyone at the party starts laughing.

Kenzie (Raven):

You know, I don't think that I did anything as as horribly mean as my high school principal did to deserve that. Who who who's the culprit here?

Ruiz:

Sitting in the way back sort of like behind the person that she came with is Sophia, who's got her phone out and just texting away and just like very obviously hides a smile, very obvious, you know, silly coy way.

Kenzie:

Raven goes,

Kenzie (Raven):

Okay.

Kenzie:

Look at Sophia.

Kenzie (Raven):

Maybe I deserve that a little bit.

Kenzie:

Lifts a massive fork full into their mouth so that they do not have to speak for a little bit.

Ruiz:

Sophia now out of the Sailor Moon costume does have a sort of like chestnut brown, maybe some blonde highlights, has like a Sailor Uranus style pixie cut. Looks fantastic. And she's with very tall, lanky fellow, sort of like olive skin, sort of like like a buzz cut, but the kind of buzz cut where clearly like you made a bad choice with your hair and wanted to start over, as opposed to like military buzz cut.

Ruiz (Sophia):

Yeah, sorry, it was really good story.

Kenzie:

Raven isn't blind to there being an attraction to Sophia, I think, but that is just like so far removed from their current state of mind that it's almost laughable that there is this like flirtatious energy that exists between them because Sophia - there’s something there that would be a good fit between them. Despite what Raven should be, or maybe because of the fact that they've gone dark on socials, is able to still be hung up on Damien in a way that makes them question like how do I start something new when I'm so used to how things were. I'm still - like I see the same people every day. I live in the same apartment that we lived in together. My life is exactly the same as if we were still together. I can't look forward to something else and just taste another massive bite of food. This time getting stuffing in there and going,

Kenzie (Raven):

Oh, yeah, Sabrina, so good.

Ruiz:

She like looks at her her boyfriend Carlos, who's like hosting this whole thing. He's has the biggest apartment and this really obsessively curated turkey recipe. He's really intense about it for like days before, but it's really good. Points at you, looks at her boyfriend, and just goes,

Ruiz (Sabrina):

See? Experimenting's worth it sometimes. Some people have tastes.

Kenzie:

Raven makes eye contact with Carlos and goes just makes a face and shakes their head.

Ruiz:

He just goes,

Ruiz (Carlos):

Yeah, sure. Maybe I was wrong.

Emma:

Speaking of that perfectly curated turkey recipe, I think there's a moment where that exchange gets interrupted. Because I think as Carlos is looking over to catch that look from Raven, there's a moment where he catches a different set of eyes. And it's their cat, Mango, who has jumped up on the counter and is now eating some of that perfectly curated turkey right out of the pan.

Ruiz (Carlos):

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Ruiz:

The chair falls out from under him jumps up so fast and is like,

Ruiz (Carlos):

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Emma:

And there's a very loud [meow].

Ruiz:

Scoops up from the middle, and as he's like talking, he's like pointing the cat at different people.

Ruiz (Carlos):

I asked nicely if you needed to use a restroom to make sure that she doesn't get out. You're going to the bedroom.

Ruiz:

Walks over.

Kenzie:

Raven goes,

Kenzie (Raven):

I don't - I'm just like I'm a l much more of a dog person.

Ruiz:

Sofia is like, you know,

Ruiz (Sophia):

Wasn’t too bad. I didn't get too much. And like comes over to you, right to sit down next to you, Raven, and her - they’ve been together for a little bit now. You don't know particularly what, you know, stage they would consider themselves at. The guy she came with Jesse sits next to her and just starts, you know, looking past the two of you and, you know, starts talking to Abby about - Abby has like a bunch of like stickers in the back of her phone case and starts talking about like one of the shows the stickers from and they're having their own conversation.

Kenzie:

For a little bit Raven just kind of sits there and eats quietly, ignoring Sophia next to them. But it probably goes on for far too long for Sophia's liking.

Ruiz:

At first she's just like politely like listening to their conversation, even though she doesn't have anything to tribute. After a bit she just you know, puts her head in hand and just looks at you, Raven, just waiting for you to pause even for a second to try to see if you wanted to talk.

Kenzie:

Fork and mouth.

Kenzie (Raven):

Yeah? Huh, what? Do you need something?

Ruiz (Sophia):

Come on, the stuffing's not that good.

Kenzie (Raven):

I don't know.

Kenzie:

Raven shows where they've hidden the stuffing under a roll and then they put the roll back on top of it.

Ruiz (Sophia):

You know, we could just tell her it’s bad.

Kenzie (Raven):

I don't know her well enough to do that. You I don't think know her well enough to do that.

Ruiz (Sophia):

I mean like we hang like we hung out a couple of times since the party. I did I did win the bag of candy. Thank you very much.

Kenzie (Raven):

Oh, congratulations.

Ruiz (Sophia):

Yeah, it is gone now. RIP.

Kenzie (Raven):

You share it with Jesse?

Kenzie:

I think that I have to use a token here for a bit of a passive aggressive

Ruiz:

There was a tone there, yeah. There was a tone.

Emma:

There was a tone there.

Ruiz:

Leans back a little bit in her chair and is like,

Ruiz (Sophia):

Yeah. He ate all the almond joys because I can't have almonds. Have you guys met? I think you'd like him.

Kenzie (Raven):

Earlier today when I walked in and said hello, my name is Raven and he said hello, my name is Jesse, that's when we met.

Ruiz (Sophia):

Oh, I could have sworn he mentioned seeing you before you had a couple you have a class together. He's also in Gen Ed.

Kenzie:

Raven is frantically going through their brain, trying to figure this out. And it wouldn't be surprising, 'cause Raven isn't necessarily paying any attention to the people around them. And so they just go,

Kenzie (Raven):

Oh, yeah, maybe. Maybe

Ruiz:

I think it takes a little bit, Raven does recall and unfortunately it is a class with only like six people in it. It's like an early childhood development class that like only people in this specific program sign up for.

Kenzie (Raven):

Yeah, I guess just to not leave much of an impression.

Emma:

I think that stops the room around you to the point of like I don't know if Raven necessarily notices this, but I think Sophia and some of and Abby and some of the others around would notice that a lot of the other couples that are eating heard that line and have started like putting down their forks to listen very like sneakily in the background and to the point that the TV volume has been turned down a little bit because this is much more interesting than whatever act is going on in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day.

Ruiz:

To spare Raven a bit, Jesse and Abby like sort of like slapped on the table a bit and like Jesse's just like showing showing her something on his phone that they're both like laughing at. She caught it because she's, you know, staying close to Raven, trying to make sure, you know, like I'm gonna say I'm I'm here for emotional support, so I'm gonna stay close. So she's staring daggers down at Raven, but Jesse's like talking about something else. He's, you know, he seems very enthused about whatever he's talking about, so he didn't really catch that. Sabrina for once is not saying anything and is just watching.

Kenzie:

How does Sophia react to that?

Ruiz:

Sits up, straightens her back a bit,

Ruiz (Sophia):

He clearly made an impression on me. maybe because we talked for maybe more than five minutes and when he said what he wanted he followed through with it.

Kenzie:

Raven puts the plate on the table, stands up, the chair making a lot of noise as it pushes back, and they go,

Kenzie (Raven):

Mmm, yeah, okay. Abby, time to go.

Kenzie:

And they grab their jacket and without a look back leave the apartment.

Ruiz:

You don't see this because I think Raven just very quickly and promptly steps out, but just before she leaves, she just turns around to everyone,

Ruiz (Abby):

Thanks for having us sorry.

Ruiz:

And then scurries and runs up to to catch up with you.

Kenzie:

I do not believe that I have to use all of the tokens before I leave the party or think about the ex. So, as we leave, Raven kind of one-minded stomping little tantrum down the hallway, not going to cry, very adamantly not leaving another party with tears in their eyes, gets to the end of the hallway, has passed the stairs, not paying any attention, but gets to like a window and just stops and then turns around and stares at Abby and says,

Kenzie (Raven):

Was that my fault?

Ruiz (Abby):

Yeah.

Kenzie (Raven):

Was it all my fault? Like was everything my fault?

Ruiz (Abby):

No.

Kenzie (Raven):

Because I do think I follow through. I think if I know what I want I follow through. I wasn't the one who didn't follow through. Damien didn't follow through. Damien left.

Ruiz:

She’s been trying to keep pace but give you her space for that she gets closer to you both framed by this window and she grabs both your hands and says,

Ruiz (Abby):

He’s not here.

Kenzie (Raven):

But he could be.

Ruiz (Abby):

He chose not to be her. He chose not to and that's not your fault.

Kenzie (Raven):

I think it is though. 'Cause I did! Because I did follow through. Look at me, look at me, I'm different. I - I’m - I'm me. Like I wasn't me before, now I'm me, and I followed through and I changed and and he went away. So

Ruiz (Abby):

He wanted someone different. And you couldn't be that. And that's him, not you. You said it yourself, this is you. I saw you play music at your place. I saw I never saw you play music before. You never joined band.

Kenzie (Raven):

I’m really bad at it. I know like five chords.

Ruiz (Abby):

That’s five more than you knew before. You can tell me all these details about the lives of these rock stars. But not about the actual music. You're doing that because you wanted to. Damien didn't want that, so moved on.

Kenzie:

Abby can see that Raven has started picking at their fingers.

Kenzie (Raven):

I just feel like like time is moving really quick and things are passing me by and I just can't go with it. I'm like stuck.

Ruiz:

She was holding your hand hands before she takes one again, takes a hair tie off her wrist, puts on yours, and just gives it like a little not not too hard, just a little bit of a snap.

Kenzie (Raven):

Ah, come on.

Ruiz:

And says,

Ruiz (Abby):

If you think things are going too fast, stop trying to keep up. Go your own pace. Let what happened happens.

Kenzie (Raven):

That's a lot easier said than done.

Ruiz (Abby):

Yeah, it fucking sucks. I don't even do it half the time. You ever see those videos of like people like collapsing during marathons cause they like didn't drink enough water or they like shit themselves or whatever?

Kenzie (Raven):

I cannot find the pathway here to what you're trying to tell me, but yes I know what you're talking about.

Ruiz (Abby):

Someone helps them up, and then they just walk the rest of the way. You still complete a marathon, even if you don't run the whole way.

Kenzie:

Raven throws their arms around Abby's shoulders and gives her a tight hug and then says,

Kenzie (Raven):

Maybe we should go back in. Do you think that would be bad?

Ruiz (Abby):

No. No. No. I think it'll be okay. And if these people are gonna be your friends, our friends, it should be a little messy. Cause real friendship is messy. Come on.

Kenzie (Raven):

Okay.

Ruiz:

And she’ll walk back with you walking this time hand in hand.

Emma:

And the two of you make your way back to - past all of the plain front doors that haven't decorated this apartment complex to a very obvious wreath on the front of Carlos' apartment door. As you open the door again to head back in. The party has moved on to other topics of conversation, though it seems that the tension from the previous outbursts still kind of hangs in the air a little bit. And the TV has been completely abandoned at this point. No one's interested in the TV. There's more interesting things happening at the party for them to talk about.

Kenzie:

I think Raven steels themself for a moment with Abby by their side and decides not to be a coward about it and steps back through the door to the party.

I think that's where we could end it. It's fine. Everything's fine.

Emma:

Is it? (Laughs)

Ruiz:

I feel like I need a cigarette. I don't even smoke. God damn that was - oof!

Kenzie:

Ooh.

Emma:

We made some bold choices. I was trying to inject some humor in there with the cat thing.

Kenzie:

Yeah.

Emma:

I was trying to inject some humor in there with the cat thing.

Kenzie:

Oh, no! That was good.

Ruiz:

That was good. That's what we we needed that.

Kenzie:

I’m just not gonna do anything but create drama when I'm in the scene.

Ruiz:

Playing the other people's is really fun.

Kenzie:

Okay, well, we have a final party to go to before our epilogue here. So now you have to be Raven, Ruiz, Emma you'll be all the other people, and I shall be the venue. So for Ruiz, what is our cope going into this party?

Ruiz:

I think now they just start sort of sort of like rub that like little bit of scarring from when they would pick their nails but try really, really hard not to do that. I really do want to still keep the music angle. It's been a couple of months and Jesse's in a band that needs a new keyboard player. So he asked, who he thinks is a new buddy, Raven. And Raven has been coming up with a lot of excuses as to why they can't do it even though it's a cover band and they already know all the music that this band plays. So it would be easy and it would be fun. It would just be really tough to A, play publicly, you know, even in like, you know, small house shows or at a bar, but also to play with Jesse, who's actually a pretty nice, like genuinely kind dude.

Kenzie:

I think we have to actually go back home for this one because I want the complication to be that the person hosting the party is dog sitting Damien's dog.

Ruiz:

No

Emma:

Oh my god.

Kenzie:

Damn. The real ex.

Emma:

Real ex is the corgi.

Kenzie:

Real ex is the corgi.

Emma:

Beautiful. I think Abby is another party guest at this party. I also think that the girl that Damien kissed is at this party. Whether they're dating or not can be established.

Ruiz:

We don't know, we're still not on social media.

Emma:

We're still not on social media, so Raven would not know either way.

Kenzie:

Yeah, Emma, you'll get to decide. You're the other people.

Emma:

I think her name is Lexi.

Ruiz:

Oh, of course it's Lexi, yes.

Emma:

And that's the the main party guest that I will establish.

Kenzie:

In general, I because we brought it back home, this is like the normal high school friend crowd I'm assuming we're gonna be playing with? Cool. Okay.

Emma:

Absolutely.

Kenzie:

This third and final party takes place on New Year's Eve in Raven's hometown in the house where the New Year's Eve party took place for these kids every year. In the house of Connor Haynes. It is a not super big normal white picket fenced suburbia. It's a house with a two story house. Two parents, three kids. The house is still decorated from their Christmas celebrations, so there is a beautiful tree in the two-story living room, big window behind it that looks out onto the backyard that slopes down, covered in snow. The lights outside on the bushes are on. The lights inside are on but warm and dim, the fire roaring in the fireplace.

This is I think a bit of a mixed party where the kids are here, but then also like his parents and their friends are here. And they're kind of they're separated a little bit, but they're taking place amidst the same house. And also all these people grew up knowing each other. So it's very familiar, it's very comfortable. There is a corgi curled up on a cushion of the couch in the room with the fire, everybody loving all over it.

And the music is playing but it's more in the background. This New Year's Eve party is more about playing games and having conversation and catching up with people that you hadn't seen in a while and drinking copious amounts of wine. And it is 11:01, so close to midnight.

Ruiz:

Raven is dressed comfortably for the the season and the occasion, but still, you know, keeps a little bit of tries to keep a little bit of the flair and the style that they've created for themselves over the past few months. It's gonna be a new year. Back home for the first time in a while. Most of the morning. Probably like the past couple days before coming here has been spent at Raven's parents' house. Raven knows everyone here. Is pretty decent friends with Connor, although Connor was always close with someone else, so they haven't been as in touch, but they're still they're still cool. Raven, of course, is mingled a bit with Connor's parents and you know some of the the older guests who, you know, they grew up around and, you know, they you know, catching up. I think like because of like how small and tight-knit the community is, like the like vice principal from the school that like they just graduated from is like,

Ruiz (Vice President):

: Well yeah, and when you're done with your, you know, your gen ed things, you can always, you know, come he come back for your student teaching.

Ruiz:

And there's just an icy grip around Raven’s heart of the idea of coming back to teach at their old high school. But isn't trying to focus on that. Is just gonna try see a few people they gain the see, and then tomorrow morning go back to their apartment. They finally got rid of the last of of his things so there's more space for music stuff. And is sitting in - you said like a two story living room? So probably sitting like in a nice chair on one of the higher levels. Like nursing the same glass of white because despite being a fuller adult, they still feel awkward about drinking around like grown ups. So it doesn’t, you know, isn’t much of a drinker but also doesn't want to be seen as drinking in excess and just sort of watching the rest of the party.

Emma:

I think you are the only one with that inhibition among all of your old high school friends, Raven. Because everyone else has - is probably on like their third or fourth glass of wine at this point. Some others have started mixing up mimosas and things of that nature, to sort of pre-game for the ball dropping, as it were. Everyone is having a great time. And it's strange because there's almost this moment where you've noticed the divide very easily. Sides were chosen a long time ago, but you going dark on social media kind of made it difficult to keep up with a lot of people. And so a lot of your old classmates that were kind of on your side have already come up to you. But there is a very familiar girl in the corner that you recognize from a couple of quick pictures on Instagram that made you delete it in the first place. She hasn't seemed to really pay much attention to you. But a lot of the girls around her are. It almost seems like they're waiting for a different ball to drop and seeing if something else might happen. But before you have to make that decision, I think Abby sits down next to you and says,

Emma (Abby):

You might want to mix up a mimosa before all the champagne's gone. Everyone's been. Everyone's been drinking a lot of it.

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, I saw there's like yeah. Connor's parents s sprung for like the good champagne, but it's orange juice from concentrate. Interesting priorities.

Emma (Abby):

I think they're trying to too hard to be fancy and to them the champagne is fancy, but if you if you just buy your regular orange juice from the store no one's gonna notice. But I'm sure the other parents have noticed.

Ruiz:

I like nudge Abby a little bit and like look over to you know someone we've known our whole lives just like talking a little too loud and a little too fast very, very like bright red.

Ruiz (Raven):

I saw remember when you texted me on Halloween?

Emma (Abby):

Mm-hmm.

Ruiz (Raven):

And you did me a kind favor and I repaid it by doing the thing you warned me not to.

Emma (Abby):

Uh -huh?

Ruiz (Raven):

I mean, you probably know her better than I do, but I can see her down there and her friends keep looking at me, so I'm assuming they know who I am.

Emma (Abby):

Yeah, Lexi was kind of the cool new girl after you left. And so a lot of people kind of flocked to her.

Emma:

Abby kind of follows your gaze down to her. She is she's definitely dressed kind of like in an in-between spot where she's still wearing like a nice skirt and blouse, almost like dressing up how a lot of the parents have for this party, instead of like the more casual wear that a lot of the the kids have have put on. Her hair is straight, immaculate. She has this sort of like perfect persona that she seems to be wearing like a shield at this party. And Abby kind of nods and says,

Emma (Abby):

She herself is nice, but I think a lot of people think they can't be friends with both of you.

Ruiz (Raven):

She’s like she's like annoying. You know?

Emma (Abby):

Yeah.

Ruiz (Raven):

Like your first thought is like, oh she’s pretty. The first thought I was like kinda get pissed off. I’m, you know, doing different things.

Ruiz:

Gestures onto like their cardigan to like a cheesy they then pin that their mom bought and was very excited. It's like like well damn it now I have to wear this. Otherwise it'll make her sad.

Kenzie:

Christmas present.

Ruiz:

This is on my stocking instead of instead of blocking out my old name because she didn't have she forgot about it and it was just in the attic forever and like didn't have time to change it.

Emma:

Abby nudges your shoulder and says,

Emma (Abby):

Hey, you don't need them. And you don't need to be her perfect brand of pretty. Cause you're already you're already awesome as yourself, remember?

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, yeah, yeah, shitting yourself in the marathon, whatever, yeah.

Ruiz:

Downs the glass. That was like halfway through, like down's the rest of it.

Ruiz (Raven):

Ugh, okay. Alright. You mind following me in case in case I die?

Emma (Abby):

You’re not gonna die, but I will save you -

Ruiz (Raven):

I might.

Emma (Abby):

- if it gets bad.

Ruiz (Raven):

You don't - you never know.

Emma (Abby):

I got your back.

Ruiz:

I’m gonna use a token for an external move. Raven is going to hopefully stays this way, is going to try to reach out to meet somebody now. They're gonna walk down, trying not to look directly at Bernard, because that'll be a whole thing. And it's physically painful. Walks past the couch through, you know, Lexi's little flock parts ever so slightly and Raven just walks up and says,

Ruiz (Raven):

Hi. I'm I'm Raven. I heard you moved to town shortly after I I left. It so we haven't met. It's nice to meet you.

Emma (Lexi):

Oh, yeah, Raven, hi, Lexi, so nice to meet you.

Emma:

And she reaches out to shake your hand.

Ruiz:

Wasn’t gonna initially but see her very and you know, not like any reluctant way, but in very like, oh I wasn't prepared for that, but shakes.

Ruiz (Raven):

So how have you been lucky in the town so far?

Emma (Lexi):

Oh, it's been great. Everyone's been super nice and well it is a beautiful little town anyway. But yeah, I've been I've been settling in really well. It's a really nice place. Are you happy to be back?

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, it's yeah, it's been a little bit been sort of, you know, busy with school and work and all that. Yeah, it's nice to but yeah, it's nice to see all the the old faces. Glad you've been welcomed properly.

Emma (Lexi):

Absolutely.

Emma:

I think you see it in her eyes, though she doesn't give it away in her tone, but like she she catches what you mean when you say that. Or at least what she thinks you mean.

Kenzie:

Bernard jumps off the couch and makes his way over to where you guys are talking and then stands between the two of you, looking up at both of you with a sense of familiarity, but not being able to choose who to go for.

Ruiz (Raven):

Hey buddy.

Ruiz:

Raven’s gonna having him come to them just like definitely melts them a little bit and is like that mental reflex of that like strong enough thing instigating a memory. They're specifically trying to drive that away from anything having to do with him and specifically all the time that they spent with Bernard, which was a lot. There was a lot of time where it was just the two of them. So just trying to fixates on that and the walk to the dog parks and whatever. He's gonna kneel down, give little scritches under the chin, just behind the ear.

Emma:

I think as he starts to lean into that, you see that Lexi kind of had her mouth open to like talk to Bernard. But as she kind of just observes you, she closes it again.

Emma (Lexi):

That’s right. You remember Bernard. Dad's on a bit of a work trip, so well, he's hanging out here. You're enjoying your little vacation, huh, buddy?

Emma:

And she leans down to start petting him as well. And you watch as he kind of like moves his nose away. Because she starts like with her like perfectly manicured nails, just starts scratching on the top of his nose. And you know he hates that spot. And you watch as he kind of leans back from it and kind of shakes his head a little before leaning back into the the ear scritches.

Ruiz:

Just like trying like very quickly to - There’s a lot of, I feel like a lot of times when especially like with this situation, Raven has spent a lot of time probably an unhealthy amount of time thinking about what I'm gonna say when this happens. You know, like building like multiple scenarios just on and on and on in their head. But like it does take it does take a lot of energy to really full force go at someone even if you feel they have wronged you. But This probably would be different had he been here. But she's new in town and she's nice and like she it seems like she doesn't know Bernard, not that she doesn't care. So the hand that like booped the nose, I'm gonna just very gently put my hand over hers and go and just like

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, the nose is really sensitive. He likes this.

Ruiz:

And just like guide her hand over and let her take over the scritches. And let him lean into her.

Emma:

I think she's definitely a little surprised by it, but she smiles a little when he leans into her hand. And says,

Emma (Lexi):

I’ve been trying to figure out his favorite spot to get to scratch forever. I didn't realize… huh.

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, dogs are a lot more complicated than people usually give them credit for, but you know, you would have gotten there eventually.

Kenzie:

Both of your attentions are turned as there's a crash of shattering glass from the kitchen and you see the champagne tower that they had built, somebody had removed the wrong glass and it came crashing to the ground.

Emma:

Raven, I think your mom is at this party. You see her holding the glass in question and just standing there staring wide-eyed, and she makes eye contact with you, just like help, please. And she goes,

Emma (Raven):

Barb, I am so sorry. I did not mean…

Ruiz:

I look at Lexi and for like a second all I can see is the post on Instagram, but then I see how she's being kind to Bernard and try to focus on that instead and replace that as the default in my head when I think of her.

Ruiz (Raven):

You might keep him over here so he doesn't cut himself on the glass. I have to go save my mother.

Emma (Lexi):

I’m so sorry, yeah.

Emma:

Yeah, she scoops him up so that he doesn't follow you, but he kind of like barks a little as you leave.

Kenzie:

I think we'll be using another token here for you to go help your mom.

Emma:

My like offering help someone is looking Mrs. Hayes. Again, Raven as a grown adult feels weird about calling a woman she's known her whole life bar and just and just says - looks at her mom and looks at Mrs. Hayes and just goes,

Ruiz (Raven):

It was it was beautiful. How long it lasted, I'll get some towels.

Ruiz:

And then I'm gonna just for gesture for mom to sit down, take the glass from her because

Ruiz (Raven):

It might it might have broken glass in it.

Ruiz:

That’s not how it would have worked if it fell after she took it. But I'm gonna take it anyway. sat on a counter. I've been here like a thousand times. So without even saying thing, I'll go to like a linen closet that's down here, get some towels, try to keep it from getting on anything important, and I'll look up to Mrs. Hayes.

Ruiz (Raven):

So, you guys really stepped it up this year.

Emma (Mrs. Haynes):

Yeah, well, the champagne tower was a fun experiment. Clearly it didn't work, but well we'll have to find a way to make it less breakable next year. Clearly. Oh, Raven, be careful, don't step on any broken glass. Alright?

Ruiz (Raven):

Oh, yeah, it’s fine. It’s fine.

Emma (Mrs. Haynes):

Let me go get a vacuum. see if I can't get some of that out of here.

Emma:

And she steps off to the side where like right next to the kitchen there is the closet where the vacuum cleaner is.

Ruiz:

I look over to my mom where I left her. In the kitchen there's some seating probably and I just sat her down. The closest place I could is just be like,

Ruiz (Raven):

From the middle? From the middle.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

I’m sorry, I couldn't reach the top one. I why did they make it so damn tall?

Ruiz (Raven):

You could have asked. It's bougier that way.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

I thought I was done asking men for help.

Ruiz (Raven):

You could’ve asked me.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

I forget that you're taller. I'm I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your party.

Ruiz (Raven):

It’s not my party.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

Yes, but you're here having fun and it's your first time back after everything.

Ruiz (Raven):

I know and I do appreciate it. No. It's okay. Stuff happens. It's actually fun.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

Are you sure? Because it doesn't sound like it's fine.

Ruiz (Raven):

Okay, it's better. To be more honest, it's better.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

Better is good.

Ruiz (Raven):

Abby's been, you know, a lot of help. She's been around a lot more. Classes are are doing good. Upgraded my keyboard.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

Oh good. Does it actually play in tune now?

Ruiz (Raven):

When I remember all the steps, yes.

Emma (Raven's Mom):

Good, good. Maybe I'll be able to come up for a concert at some point.

Ruiz (Raven):

Yeah, sure. We'll figure that out.

Kenzie:

The sound of the TV in the living room unmutes as the channel for the ball drop sounds above the music that is playing and you hear some cheers from the people at the party. You hear the and the newscasters, announcers on the TV talking about how there are only ten minutes left until the new year.

Ruiz:

Looking at like the mess of champagne that like they volunteered to help clean up, literally volunteered to kneel in broken glass, than keep up that previous conversation. Stands up, says

Ruiz (Raven):

Screw it, okay.

Ruiz:

Grabs like one of the bottles of champagne that's like at its at its lowest, grabs grabs her mom, pulling closer to the TV, shouts up to Abby wherever wherever she is.

Emma:

I think she was kind of hovering nearby, but didn't want to seem like she was interrupting your conversation with your mom.

Ruiz:

I grab Abby by by the arm, put sort of put my arm in hers, have my mom around the other, walk towards the the TV, look over at Lexi holding Bernard, a smile, but the people next to them knows it's a little. It's a little fake. But smiles, Lexi, and says,

Ruiz (Raven):

Cheers.

Ruiz:

And surrounded by people, they kept trying to distance himself from when the countdown starts, is just gonna scream their fucking heart out all the numbers.

Kenzie:

The whole crowd.

Kenzie, Emma, and Ruiz:

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year!

Ruiz:

Massive slug of the champagne.

Kenzie:

There are clinking of glasses as people take their champagne back. Connor Haynes' parents kiss to welcome in the new year. Abby kisses Raven on the cheek as everybody kind of hugs and culminates here as Auld Lang Syne begins to play to welcome in a new year.

Emma:

I think out of the corner of your eye, Raven, you can't help but look back to where Lexi and Bernard are sitting. And I think you realize now that Lexi has her phone out and is singing Auld Lang Syne into the phone, holding Bernard up close to her, and most likely FaceTiming someone that you were very glad was not here, and wish wasn't even here via phone. But you know exactly who she's talking to, given the the sparkle in her eye.

Ruiz:

Gives her mom a hug, gives Abby another kiss in the cheek, grabs a new drink from one of the tables, hands one to - without looking, because Lexi has Bernard, the phone phone pointed up at her and at the dog in her arm, is just going to walk up to Lexi, looking her in the eye, not down at the phone, looking her in the eye, and says,

Ruiz (Raven):

Happy New Year.

Ruiz:

And goes back and vanishes into the crowd.

Kenzie:

Before we close out, we do have a little bit of epilogue to play through in this game. There are six questions here, and we each have to answer two of them. So we'll go down the line like we did at the beginning. So I'll start since I started. The first one here is rising star. What form or forms of success and affirmation do you now receive that past you couldn't have imagined?

I think that the entrance into this band with Jesse has affirmed Raven in their choice that they can do the thing that they've loved all these years. They can create music and make music. I think it has also given them a chance in this newfound friendship with these people in college who don't know them from who they used to be. And so take massive strides with kind of like walking away from their past into their future and people knowing them for who they want to be and who they've become. The second question here for Emma is on the road, where have you traveled? What have you seen that you have always wanted to see?

Emma:

Sticking on the theme of the band, I think they get more opportunities to travel than they ever have. They spent so much time hearing about a place that they frankly did not give a shit about in their previous relationship. I think separating themselves from it made them think about all the different places that they might want to go, even just close to home that didn't require a plane at all. So I think for the first time they thought about even just leaving the state, went on a trip to somewhere like Nashville or like some of the big like music hubs of the world, all these different places where big artists originated and just took themselves on their own little music tour.

Kenzie:

For Ruiz, altitude. What is something tough you accomplished that initially frightened you?

Ruiz:

Raven was back home - this is probably a couple years down the line - but was visiting home, truly one day, said fuck it, and called Damien and said, I'd like to talk. They met up at a diner and very, very clearly, bluntly said how we broke up really fucked me up for a while. But we're both better off for it now. And while I wish it'd gone better, we're both better now. Hopefully you don't do that to Lexi because she seems great. But I do think eventually Raven did legitimately become friends. Like friendly, if not, you know, close friends with Lexi. Maybe mostly just to see Bernard more, but you know, who's to say?

Kenzie:

Okay, my next one is what it takes to grow old. What do you look back on and laugh? Raven wakes up every day - every day that they're not on the road with the band - in a city apartment. Kind of walks out into the kitchen where Jesse is making eggs, pancakes, some sort of breakfast.

Where Sophia walks out of the bedroom and drapes her arms over Raven's shoulders and realizes that they had a really, really small view of what relationships were and could be, in any sense of the term, friendship, platonic, familial, romantic, and that jealousy and idea that you couldn't have what you wanted if you went for it is just so little and doesn't matter because it's not true. And has kind of learned to learn to ignore that feeling in the back of their head that you know they're not good enough for something because there's always people out there who want you for you.

Counting my breaths, Emma, how have you learned to take care of yourself, get supported through stress and panic?

Emma:

Throughout all of this, Raven discovered the importance of community and building one for yourself. Abby is still a very close and necessary friend that helps them get through anything and everything, and is probably the first one they call when something goes wrong. Or if something goes right, because your community is there to cheer you on, just as much as it is to catch you when you fall. And I think slowly because of strengthening that friendship with Abby, they've learned to lean on those around them and in turn be leaned on when it's needed. And I think that's really helped them because they know that even when things are tough, they are not alone and not nearly as alone as they felt when the breakup first happened.

Kenzie:

And our last epilogue move for Ruiz, I know what I need. What important thing have you stopped compromising on?

Ruiz:

Through all of this pretty core memories for Raven. I think the conclusion they reach from everything if they're trying to pull something out of all of this and make it worth something is I'm much better off being very clear about what I think and then if I'm right, standing by it hard and if I'm wrong recognizing it and apologizing instead of just stifling everything or being - trying to snipe things. To just be cavalier, to be brave enough to just commit to what I feel like and if I end up being an asshole, I own that. Apologize for being an asshole and try to be better. But if I'm right, I'm fucking right and I'm not gonna back down. The people around them are what's really really helping build that instinct, especially especially Jesse and Sophia and Abby.

Kenzie:

Well, that brings us, dear listeners, to the end of This Party Sucks. I wanna thank you so much for going on this a bit of a emotional roller coaster of a journey with us today. Thank you for listening to queeRPG's Pride One Shots. You can catch the next one in two weeks on June 23rd, which we'll be playing Viva La Queer Bar, which may be a little bit of a different vibe from this game. (Laughter) Just a tad. Um, I'll have you all, you know, tell the people where they can find you one last time before we go.

Emma:

Hi everyone! It was so great to be here. Once again, my name is Emma Kocar. I'm the founder and creative director of the Tabletop Talespinners Network, which is where I spend most of my time either in the GM seat or behind the scenes as producer, editor, whatever is needed to get some amazing shows out there made for all of you. We currently have three active podcasts on our channel, which are All Our Faults, a Monsterhearts 2 actual play podcast that I produce. We have Magnificence, which is our Dark Fantasy D&D 5e game. So if you love political intrigue and mixed with some fun horror elements, then that is definitely your jam. And then we have TTN Presents, which is our sort of short form podcast that has played various systems like Call of Cthulhu, D&D, and many more still to come. So you can check all of those out through our linktree.

Kenzie:

You can find that in the description box.

Emma:

Hell yeah. And then I also occasionally get to be a player on fantastic channels like this. Right now, as of this recording, I did a couple of guest episodes over on The Heart is a Dungeon, which is a fantastic show that you all should definitely go check out. We got to be sort of like Disney Pixar-esque gods shaping a new world. So go check out that story and see what kind of world we all created when given far too much power, and that's all for me.

Ruiz:

I am Ruiz on socials @bohioblues B-O-H-I-O and then blues spelled normal style. Right now in a l long-term stream over on Rollers Joint where I'm playing Montserrat, a street fighter-turned union boss who's also a reincarnation of an indigenous gorilla fighter.

Kenzie:

And I am Kenzie Tartaglione, Creative Director of queeRPG. You can check out, as I said before, our next Pride One Shot. But also we're coming to the end of season four on this channel, which is Moonlight on Roseville Beach, so you can catch up with all those episodes and watch us full haul into the finale here. And other than that, everyone, thanks for listening and happy pride!

Emma:

Happy Pride!

Kenzie:

If you like what you’ve heard today and you want to hear more and you want to support queer art, make sure to come over to our Patreon: patron.com/queerpg. We have After Shows, talkbacks for our main seasons, we have bloopers, we have little chats between myself and our producer, Ash Westover, and playlists and etc, etc, etc. You can go over and there and check out what we’ve got going on. And help us to continue making this show!