B015 QoAQnA

> "*Is there a community college version? Part time on weekends? I'm like... a weekend warlock.*"
> ― Butylene O'Kipple
>
>

**QoAQnA** is the fifteenth bonus episode of Queens of Adventure. It is a Question and Answer session with the core cast.

## Behind the Queens

Around the Mic

* DM Matt
* Arson Nicki
* Butylene O'Kipple
* Fraya Love
* Irene Dubois
* DM James

The queens have gathered with the spirit of their fans's questions and a literal cheesecake to answer questions. Irene asks everyone about their patrons in game. Arson has Samantha, Fraya has Cher. Butylene declares her patron is fashion. Matt brings up the differences in everyone's magic. They then start the questions and comments.

Hi. - The queens say hi back and wonder about punctuation and emoji. Matt says a kiss emoji, to which Arson replies: Yes.

Love You All - Fraya demanded that she ask that in the form of a question, triggering Matt to remember that someone said in the show "Be the bear you want to be pursued by in the world". That shook Arson that someone referenced Shakespeare (editor's note: It was her who said it in show).

What is each queen's favorite aspect of the class they chose? Irene loves being able to attack seven times a turn. Butylene first thinks her horns and claws before realizing they meant alchemist. She loves bombs and potions, and especially the random arcane vapors. Fraya used her experience working in a sex club for her Ravnica character, but she loves most her cleric spells. Arson loves her that cantrips are fun and keep getting more powerful, which she didn't expect. She also thinks it is entertaining that she has limited spells, but Fraya has a ton of options to choose from (but limited slots). A lot of her debating her choices are edited out (but would make good ASMR videos).

How did each of you arrive at the classes for your characters and are any of you thinking about multiclassing? - Matt explains multiclassing would be like a double major. Fraya suggests cleric/rogue. Arson feels like there's something cool about playing your parts, but a jack of all trades would be fun. Fraya thinks maybe a monk, like her Ravnica goblin. Butylene feels really happy with her character, but being a weekend warlock would be fun. Irene barely has a handle on what she is now, but she realizes she is the only hard core attacker in the group so trying magic would be fun.

The queens have settled in nicely to their in game powers and roles. If you were going to create a new character now, what heritage and class would you want to try out next? - Fraya wants a different elemental. Maybe a fire monk, named Phoenix. Irene would want to be a thief with strong deception. Arson thinks about a druid, as its an energy their party doesn't have for the moment. James cuts in and says druids can become animals. Butylene would want to try to be a sorcerer, with inherit magic, either a dragonborn or bugbear, and named Kak Shablam.

Can you all sign my dice tray and can you all come to the east coast? - Traveling more is something Matt wants the show to do, they have to figure out logistics. He mentions there are discord channels for different cities so they can get tips for venues and queens. Fraya doesn't care if she has to be a dice boy, she is going. Matt mentions Chicago and Portland as possibilities.

How does it feel to be over a year into being a Dungeons & Dragons playing group getting more and more renown? - Fraya mentions over 1000 followers on twitter. Butylene still feels like a toddler. As Fraya had no clue what was going on when she joined, she thinks this is awesome and cool.

Without spoiling anything recent, what are some of your favorite moments? - The Trial comes out first. For Arson, who goes by emotions, that was the most powerful moment emotionally and it played perfectly. Fraya's using destructive wrath in the Watersport Town Hall comes to mind, where she hurt herself to cause more damage. Arson also thinks the Ravnica episode was some of the most disgusting fun. Drag Queens meets Evil Dead. Arson wonders about the Director's Cut of the episode. Matt explains an edited version was released by Wizards of the Coast, but the full episode they still have and Matt and James are discussing releasing it. Arson thinks it could be a good one shot summation of what the show is. But how fucked up the show was is part of the reason it all hasn't been released via Wizards of the Coast. Fraya has been obsessed with a riding creature started with the cat there, not to mention the wyvern and Butylene's nightmare.

If you could get a quote or meme inspired by Queens of Adventure on a t-shirt, what would you want to see? - Fraya launches in with "Buzz, Buzz, Motherfucker", "Can I use shape water to?" , "Sissy That Roll", "Necromance is Not Dead".

Favorite moments, maybe not the big ones - Arson throwing ten shot glasses with a nat20. Fraya loves the drag show with Tootsy the Clown, and the snail glue in her hair. James added a squeaky sound to that. Arson recalls being invisible and Barb being telepathic. That was not the end of the episode, but when recorded, that was the end of the session. They had to wait two weeks to find out what happened. Fraya praises the places Matt and James end sessions.

When the Concierge died, what was the thought process of the DMs in deciding which character would die? James explained there were several factors. One was there needed to be consequences to the queens action, and there was going to be an attack on the Golden Palace while morale was low. For who died, it was about who they were going to remember. They weren't sure they would remember Liir or Lamont, and the Concierge made an impression. Butylene still feels guilt for never asking his name (they did). The queens do think his death was a turning point, and the Concierge was a fan favorite character. Matt too hated to see him die, but knew it was the right decision. The queens were glad to see his spirit in the clouds so that was the last memory.

Matt asks if there are other things the queens would defend to the death. - Arson doesn't think she would un-drider herself. Butylene feels affection for Barb, despite the ordeal. While what he was doing, turning people into goo, was bad, they could have gone different routes to resolve it. Matt reminds them that there are times to fight, but agrees the queens (and they look at Irene) are still learning how to be more social as well.

Matt than invites the queens to ask he and James questions.

Fraya: How'd you come up with all the drag houses? - She gets some, like Wunderbred is a pun but what about Molestrangler? - James explained this came from a kickstarter backer, unsure of the reference, but may be polari from Julian and Sandy. It was the first name from a 'name something' level.

Irene: We record for four hours for like three episodes. How long does it take to prepare? - James says some of the prep for what they are planning for the session, the monsters and the general idea of the direction they want things to go, can take ten to twenty hours. Sometimes things are prepped earlier, but the queens don't always go that route, so they can save time later when those get used.

For editing, it all gets loaded into the software and they map out the major plot points and rolls. Fraya remembers they have priorities, from a previous bonus episode. Matt confirms: Comedy, Character, Conflict, Continuity. James mentioned how in a recent episode it took Barb three chunks of dialogue to get out important info, so they rerecorded just Barb's dialogue to be faster. Matt doesn't want Game of Thones sexposition. They also remove a lot of sounds. James knows everyone's mouth noises and can see it in the wave forms. During the recent forest fires, the smoke in the air bounced radio waves down into the recording that they have to edit down. James also adds sound effects and vocal filters on characters, or for ESP. They also use ocean sounds to cover up background noises picked up. Irene loved a cave drip they used in an episode. James will even drop sound effects when they go into table-talk out of story.

Butylene - Curious about moments from the playtests that were different than what the queens chose - The first playtest for the first live show, Carlos Maza helped play test. In the climactic battle with Lashes, took control of him and had him smash the Fourth Wall. Fraya would love to listen.

Fraya - Are we ever going to find out what the deal is with the Pomeranian? - Matt: There's a way to find out. James says they haven't seen the last of it. The DMs ask for their theories. Fraya wonders if it is Lady Edith. Butylene also thinks about the imps, so thinks something is disguised as the pomeranian. Matt admits they have thoughts about the Pomeranian since the first episode, and it really hasn't changed, despite being thrown into the pit.

Fraya - After all the play tests, did the queens do anything that surprised the DMs? - Matt: All the time. He cites when they split up at the lighthouse. Butylene can tell when they've gagged them as the DMs get quiet and type each other things (James will send prompts to Matt over text during recordings). James also says they only play test live shows as a form of rehearsal to keep the queens fresh for the shows. Since the podcast is more character based, you can't test that, but you can test the gags of live shows.

Fraya also wonders if they think they might be Mr Sparkle famous in other countries, given their popularity outside the USA. The amount of overseas postage surprised them when mailing backer rewards. 80% of listeners in USA, 7% in the UK, 5% Canada, and 3% in Australia, to name a few.

Arson - How have you seen the general queer relationship with D&D change we first started the podcast? - Not implying that they made a big impact, but she knows from her exposure in the project, she has come in contact with people she never could have imagined. Matt definitely sees an increase in gay and game worlds colliding, and Butylene thinks D&D is growing and becoming more mainstream. Arson feels like she has started to see queers carving out a place in nerd culture and finding success. Deere (twitch streamer) and Kitty Powers come to mind. They are making blueprints in the same way that RuPaul was a blueprint.

Matt reads a passage from a D&D book about Watersdeep that talks about gender/sexuality and Drag Shows in their world, and not as a butt of a joke. Butylene wishes for their to be a Drag class in the game. Magic the Gathering introduced a trans character: Alesha, who Smiles at Death. Hearing about Deere and Trashly, Fraya contemplates being a twitch streamer, although her home set up isn't ideal.

Arson asks Irene how she feels jumping in, brand new, since the others aren't as new now. She says she uses context clues and watches the others play to learn things, after getting a crash course from Matt. The DM also says having new players sometimes can bring fresh perspective, and says they didn't expect Fraya to use the boots in Hole of Glory to pass the sticky floor challenge.

The queens ask how they come up with names, and if any are on the spot. The DMs have a lot of names from backers, but do sometimes have to make up a name. Arson is always thrown when a name comes from a real life person and she combines the two, such as DJ Cyberpreppy. Matt mentions Karin and Patrick Weekes, whose namesakes are nothing like them. James says they thought they were naming a boat, didn't intend to have their names on characters. They also wanted to use 'Edmonton Queen' on a boat, and it may still be out there.

Matt invites comments and questions for the listeners as they wrap things up. Butylene expresses gratitude, and loves how much people look forward to episodes. Matt says Cody Shipman (artist) came up to him at a bar the night before and wanted to talk about the show. Arson loves that the show goes out around the world, drag without being tied to 'that show'. Butylene loves that it is free (if you can afford a phone) and easy to access. Irene is happy to be a part of this for the future and is excited to experience what the other queens have experienced and established.

### References

* Brittney Spears' "Crossroads"
* Kim Cattrall
* Cher
* Shakespeare's Winter's Tale
* "VHS cleaner"
* 5th Element - Multipass
* X-men Phoenix
* Evil Dead
* Justin Bieber
* Game of Thrones
* Rear Window
* Princess Bride
* Norman Bates
* Stranger Things
* Walmart

**Greetings From Fire Island**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Show Must Go On**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Operation Watersport**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - Ch7 - **Trials**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Ghosts of the Coast**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Devil's Due**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Special**: The Story So Far
**The Beautiful Place**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **A Dance in the Dark**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Drama in the Deep**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **Whispers From the Heart**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Danger Rangers!**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Mist Connections**: Ch1 - Ch2
**Unreleased**
Lost: Camp Crystal Light - Pax West 2018 --  vs the Lizard People
Live Shows: Seattle Style -- Minneapolis Style