1213 – Singing Song of Friendship | JIWOF 10
You will be welcomed to the world for friends via a song that will not be sung or hummed only narrated in a way to help you journey to dreamland.
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Episode 1213 – Singing Song of Friendship | JIWOF 10
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, players of games and games…any sentient…I don't know if I’ve ever given a shout-out to sentient games before. Anybody that’s familiar with the HBO short Brain Games…if you were watching HBO in the eighties, maybe even the nineties, maybe you caught a segment of Brain Games. I think that’s what it was called. I’ll be looking that up on YouTube later to say, can I catch some classic Brain Games and then maybe some Not Necessarily the News? I wonder if anyone…if the Daily Show ever had anybody from Not Necessarily the News on it. I don't know. But anyway, this is not necessarily…this is not…necessarily no-nonsense, this podcast. It’s time for Sleep With Me, a podcast that’s here to put you to sleep.
You say, why are you talking about that stuff, though? I say, well, Brain…yeah, later in the show, probably Brain Games or stuff not necessarily being the news. It was Not Necessarily the News. It was just a show…a comedy show that I…but anyway, this is a pod…this is a sleep podcast, believe it or not, a bedtime story sleep podcast that’s here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep. Now, most people don’t like the show when they first get here, so if you’re already feeling that way, you’re in good company. It does take a couple tries to get used to this podcast. It’s very different but it’s very deliberate. I’m here to take your mind off of stuff, keep you company in case the deep, dark night feels lonely or you just need something else to think about than whatever’s keeping you awake, and eventually you drift off.
The structure of the show; we got support, that’s how you get to listen for free twice a week and over 600 episodes available anytime you want them, then there’s a long, meandering intro that’s meant to ease you into bedtime, to kinda help you drift off, and then after that will be our bedtime story. Tonight will be our episodically modular series, Journey Into the World of Friends. So, we got that coming up. What else do you need to know? I don't know. I guess I don’t know. I think that’s everything. It’s a very different podcast. I make this show 'cause I know how it feels in the deep, dark night, tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, and I believe you deserve a good night’s sleep. That’s why I make the show. So, I’m glad you’re here. Give it a few tries. See how it goes, and yeah, thanks for coming by, and thanks for making it possible, my patron peeps.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. It could be thoughts on your mind, thoughts you’re thinking about about the past, the present, the future, thinking stuff, thoughts that are just there, thoughts that are always there, thoughts…thinking thoughts, thoughts.
So, thinking stuff, it could be feelings related to those thoughts or feelings that are just there, feelings that are left over from the day, it could be physical sensations, changes in time, temperature, routine, schedule. You could be going somewhere, you could have someone visiting, you could have something coming up, you could be going through something or getting over something, or a different work schedule, starting something new. Whatever it is, the reason I run through all that stuff is because I just want you to know you’re not alone. I know this isn’t everyone’s experience, but it is how the deep, dark night has been for me, is it can be incredibly lonely and it can hurt, and in a way that’s tough to explain to people that sleep normally.
Even when I’m with somebody or I have a roommate or sharing a room with my brother or my lovely dog Koa’s there or my daughter’s in the other room, when I can’t sleep, it has a certain feeling to it, right? The feeling is not related…you know what I mean. It’s like, it can…I say, wow, those are some strong, strong feelings there. But it doesn’t feel like that at the time; it feels like this is it. This is really a lot. So, I only go through all that stuff and I only emphasize what it’s like to let you know however it feels for you, there’s someone listening right now who can relate to those feelings, even if I can’t. ‘Cause I hear from listeners that have been through stuff I haven’t been through, and most of the time there’s something in there that I could relate to feelings-wise.
But just in case there isn’t, I know due to the number of listeners we have that someone’s leaning in right now who’s been through something like you has…like you have, including not being able to put words together in correct order in whatever tense, but they can relate to how you feel and they say, wow, that’s tough. I really hope you could get some sleep. I know; I’ve been through something like that. I do know how it feels. They’re leaning in right now, nodding their head knowingly, knowing, 'cause they care. I know it’s a strange, digital…digitally-distributed care, but it’s…this is just a opportunity where briefly we could all put our best foot forward and say, hey, yeah, I’m still a human being. Got that imperfection down, but right now, I know how that feels.
That’s the most important part about the show, and the second most important part about the show is that you deserve a good night’s sleep. You deserve a bedtime where you could rest, get the sleep you need where it doesn’t have to be a rigmarole or a hassle or something you dread all day long. Because I’ve been going through it, and just not…I don't know what it is and I’m just not getting the rest I need, and it has gotten to that dread situation. Now, here’s the great news; it’s more of like…the dread…but I, over time, have lowered the volume down, because I have a bedtime routine and I say, well…but I still got this great bedtime routine. I’m not making shine to be a fake optimist. That’s the truth; there’s a part of me…one of my baby toes or whatever is in that world of like, oh no, gotta go to bed tonight.
I wonder if it’s gonna be like…but then those nine other toes are like, well…but we got…we’re reading through that super-long…if you consider it one novel by…about that tower…The Monochrome Tower. It’s not called that, but it’s a book. It’s a series of books, but it’s considered one long story. We got that to look…we got the other stuff we do at bedtime. We’ll probably do our foam-rolling. So, I just tell you all that to say, I hope this podcast or something else can become part of your bedtime routine that you look forward to or feel neutral about, and then you get the sleep you need so your life feels more manageable, and then eventually you could get the sleep you need where you’re flourishing or where you get through this. Like, I know I’m gonna get through this, whatever it is. I don't even know what it is.
It’s just one of those mystery ones. I think it’s just an adjustment. It’s the third week of school…back to school, but I don't know. Maybe it’s not. I don't know. I could use a little bit more fog, if I’m being honest, the Bay Area fog. I think it’s a temperature thing as well. Anyway, enough about me. The thing is…oh, and by the way, most people don’t like me when they first check out the show. For a lot of people, it does not change. So, just in case you’re 99.99% sure you’re never gonna listen to this podcast again, I got a website set up; sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. It has other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there, so you could check some of that stuff out and hopefully that helps you fall asleep.
But if you’re not sure, I would stick around and give the show a few tries, because the people that pay for the podcast, who have been paying for the podcast since the beginning, who interact…and we share stuff on Discord and I hear about their lives, they post pictures of their pets or they run a listener-run Facebook group, those people, a lot of them at first said, I didn’t like the show. I didn’t get it, really. Then on the third time…try I realized oh, there’s a method. First, Scoots, you send your voice across the deep, dark night, then you use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, a voice that’s not traditionally soothing, you have pointless meanders and superfluous tangents so you go off-topic, you get mixed up.
Regular listeners also know, oh, well, okay, this is a podcast I don’t listen to like a regular podcast or even like a meditation podcast. It’s a podcast I just barely listen to, kinda like elevated background noise; I’m just kinda letting it run, a TV on in the other room. I could turn it down to a mumble if I need to or I could just kinda barely listen, like, pretend I’m listening. Or, you know what I mean when you drift in-between listening and the words stop making sense. That’s what this show…that’s where the podcast…when I’m not making any sense, I’m not making any sense. So, if you’re new here and you’re waiting for the show to get started, it’s always going nowhere. That’s one of our sayings around here. Sleep With Me; never…always never getting started. So, it’s…yeah, it’s elevated background noise.
Then, the other thing to know is that this is not a pod…this is the first regular sleep podcast that I know about, but it doesn’t put you to sleep. I’m here to keep you company while you fall asleep. I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bor, your neigh-bore, your Borbie, your bores, your bore-bestie, your bore-bestie 4eva, your bore-bruh. Whatever it is, I’m here to be your friend in the deep, dark night to keep you company, just like if you were calling me and you say, hey, could you talk to me? Could you imagine a roleplaying game adventure and do the characters and have them go somewhere and do something that’s kinda familiar and I could kinda…archetypal so I could kinda fill in the blanks with not much effort and where it follows a familiar story pattern…even if I’m not hearing the story, I know that’ll put my limbic brain at ease?
Can you put in details but they’re not gripping details, and go on and on and on? I say, you got it. Most people would say, huh, I could do that once about my breakfast or…when I first started making the show and doing live performances, I still never found…we found a successful show to do, but we’ve never been successful at getting people to come to a sleep podcast in person. Only a couple times where we’ve gotten it…where we’ve hit a break-even. But at first I thought, oh, instead of doing the podcast to put people to sleep, I’ll teach people how to tell bedtime stories. So, I did a few live performances like that, and they didn’t go over that great because people were there to be put…people said, I’m not here to do the work. I want to be put to sleep.
No one actually said that, but I was able to pick up on that from audience cues. It was still a fun…they were still fun shows, but what I learned is hey, people like having the podcast put them to sleep. People…telling a bedtime story is a bit of work. That’s why I started Sleep With Me; I said, how come kids get bedtime stories but grown-ups don’t? Well, partners can’t really give…or roommates can’t give a bedtime story, or friends can’t give a bedtime story every night. Then you gotta worry…well, are they gonna ask me to reciprocate, tell them a bedtime story? But I’m already asleep. Or do I have to do it tomorrow? ‘Cause I want to go to bed. Or are they gonna be like, eating chips, if they’re my friend? They’re gonna leave crumbs?
What if they were making a smacking sound with their…or the chips are crunchy? What does that mean for our friendship if they come over and tell me a story and leave? I don't know. That’s a bit of a…I don't need that. So, I say, don't worry; got it…I’m doing it digital. I’m here. I’m on-call. So, a podcast you don’t really listen to, it doesn’t really put you to sleep, keeps you company while you drift off. Most people don’t like the show when they first listen, most people are skeptical, or you just…you’re tired, right, and you’ve tried a bunch of different stuff, and somehow you found this show and then you said, okay, I’ll check it out. So, that’s a couple things. The structure of the show is also important.
This is just the structure that I’ve found over the years…the way most people listen and get the most out of the podcast and can benefit the most listeners, and it’s flexible. So, if you’re not one of those majority of people that just likes to listen to the free show linearly, there’s options to adjust the podcast. But this is the way most people listen and most people find the show. So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I say something silly so you feel seen and welcomed in and you get the tone of the show and you say, okay, I’ll check that out. Then there’s support, 'cause the show is ad-supported and listener-supported, so you could listen free whenever you want and there’s over 600 episodes ready to go. So, then you can kinda pick and choose.
You could listen for free and you could kinda pick and choose from what works for you. Or, whatever…somebody just messaged me; I think that’s like, thirty days straight of listening…the 600 episodes, I think they said. So, if you wanted to listen to Sleep With Me for thirty days nonstop, you could. They said, I think on Patreon…or maybe that was…there was one…anyway, you could listen for months without ever repeating a episode. Then there’s an intro which is separate from the support, and it’s a show within a show meant to ease you into bedtime. It’s meant to introduce the podcast to new people, very inefficiently, yes, but it’s also meant to just make you feel a part of…be familiar, it’s…be familiar, but it’s different every single time. Again, a lot of shows follow a structure.
I just saw this discussion; should your intro be thirty seconds or fifteen seconds? I said, I can’t even do a teaser which isn’t even a intro that’s…but that’s not my job, right? My job is to ease you into bedtime, to bring you in, to bring your attention over here, to say, hey, you’re not alone here. I’m glad you’re here. Check it out. We’ll see how it goes. So, that’s what the intro…also, for a regular listener, as they become a regular listener, one, they look forward to the intro. Again, this is not everybody’s experience, but for a lot of people, the intro is the only part of the show they really pay attention to. So, that’s where they feel like they get to know me and they feel like, oh, there’s my friend again being…let’s see how Scoots is gonna let his humanity shine tonight.
Like, shine…not like a diamond, but like a rough…a diamond in the rough that’s currently in the rough. I shine like a diamond that’s still in the rough. That’s never been said about me, but it would be accurate. You say, if a diamond in the rough could shine, you would shine like…and that’s a bit like the tree in the woods, though, because you’re not shining, but you are. We just can’t see that you’re shining 'cause you’re still in the rough. Also, my diamond would be in the rough in the rough, so it’d be in some sort of rough, whatever, dirt…I’m picturing dirt. Ideally it’d be in a mud bog that’s perfect for…you know, one of those idealized…you know, one of those Holly…I don't know if everybody’s familiar with the old Hollywood mud bog that’s perfect for making mud pies or sitting in.
If you say, give me the archetypal place to wallow, I’d said, well, that’s where I’d want to be a diamond in the rough, but that would be a little bit too…not rough enough, because eventually one of those…it’d be bubbling, too, not because…because it’s a beautiful temperature or there’s some sort of cartoonish being in there passing gas. But that would eventually reveal a diamond. So, I would not be that diamond; I’d be in more of a thicker…more of a muck or just buried in dirt. Then it would be rough on top of that; bushes and stuff like that, grasses, maybe some clover. Seasonal clover, maybe some wildflowers, and then I’d…so, that would be the saying. So, can you see how inefficient this is, even this part? But for regular listeners, that’s what they come here for. They’re like, Scoots, you’re right.
You really are…if a diamond in the rough…but that…a diamond that is rough could shine, we’d…you’d know that diamond is shining. It’s just not…its shine is…it’s shining in its own way. That’s how I shine. Not to brag, because…I don't know. But I think you do, too. I think the reason I’m laughing is because only here would I find thousands and thousands of people who can relate, and together we could say, I feel less alone because I also am a diamond in the rough, a rough diamond also covered by…surrounded by rough, but I do shine. But yeah, there’s…those are those layers to my shining, and I don't need those existential questions about if I’m shining like a tree and the sound in the woods.
Oh, also, yes, I also…and there’s also…maybe it’s a different set of listeners; also, I do believe in the Hollywood mud bog, and not in a metaphorical way, that I would like to be in an ideal…I’d like to spend some time in the…that could be another roadside attraction we open one day. We may have already opened it and I forgot. Come on down to Hollywood Mud Bog, where you…bring the kids. Don't worry; we’ve got supervision…or have a party. Build mud pies, wallow, relax. I think wallowing is…wallowing does sound like a woe-begotten situation. But you’d say, we’re putting a new spin on wallow here, down at Wallow’s Mud Bog. That’s what we could call it. Come on down to Wallow’s. Oh, by the way, no mud…keep it out of your mouth. But, yeah.
Anyway, that’s a pointless meander and a superfluous tangent where I was trying to explain the structure of the show. So, the reason the intro goes on and on and on…not just for experimental, strange tangents like that, but because that tangent eases you into bedtime. It gives you some wind-down, some distance between the day and being asleep. There is a tiny percentage of people that fall asleep or skip the intro, but for most people, they’re getting comfortable, they’re doing some other chill activity, or they’re getting ready for bed. So, yeah, the intro is a transition period. Then there’s support again so the show could be free, and then there’s our bedtime story. Tonight will be our episodically modular series, Journey Into the World of Friends, about friends playing a game together, and…or being in a game together.
So, that’s the structure of the show. That’s why I make the show. I’m so glad you’re here. Really, if this is your first time here…or all your regular listeners, so glad I get to wallow with all of you. Come on down to Wallow’s, the imaginary mud…imaginary Hollywood mud bog. That’s not some sort of metaphor. You say, yeah, come on down. I don't know what else we’d do there, but I could spend hours imagining it. I don't know, once I started wallowing…'cause if you’re a regular listener, you know I tried a mud bath once, and it was not like wallowing. It was not a Hollywood mud bath. I said, what is this? I talk about this every once in a while. Probably too late to go on a tangent about it, but I say, what is this? It was a bark bath.
Anybody that actually has taken a mud bath…or at least the place I did…'cause it was the last one I took. I said, this isn’t a mud bath; this is bark. Or, this isn’t anything like…I think I saw the Brady Bunch take a mud bath, and I said, this is not what…this is not the mud bath I’ve seen in cartoons and movies. They say, yeah, this is a mud…this is a real mud bath. Therapeutic. Then they’re scooping bark on me. I mean, or some…that’s just what it looked like. I said, this is not Holly…I’m here for a Hollywood mud bath. They said, oh boy, don’t get me started. I said, no, no, no, I don't mean it…I mean, an idealized archetypal mud bath.
The guy goes, this is a mud bath, man. I don't know what to tell you. This is what you signed up for. I mean, I said, don't worry, man. This is like…this is only the 10,000th thing in my life that didn’t meet expectations, so don’t take it personal. Do you give refunds? You’re already in the mud bath. But one day…so, I guess I was saying…I was picturing myself in this archetypal mud bath. I guess…apparently it’s imaginary. Please let me know if you’ve taken a mud bath. I didn’t realize it’s a rare thing, but in the Bay Area you could drive north and there’s different places.
It was just like, I thought literally…I said, best…whatever people say in the things, like, best life living…this wasn’t for social media, but I was like, living my best life here, you know? I’m gonna take a mud bath. It was more like, finally, a dream come true. So, I mean, that…yeah, I get it. It’s a luxury problem, but it’s just…that’s why I’m…that’s really why I idealize wallowing. Oh, this isn’t a therapy session about mud baths? Sorry about that. I’m so glad you’re here. I was in the middle of wrapping it up. I work really hard. I yearn and I strive. I really hope I can help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a couple ways we’re able to do it for you for free twice a week.
Alright everybody, Scoots here, and this is our episodically modular series, Journey Into the World of Friends. I believe this is gonna be Episode 10. Episodically modular means you can listen to these in any order. The characters will fill you in on everything you need to know for the most part, but I’ll just tell you; it’s a story about five friends…oh, let me see. One, two, three, four…five friends playing a roleplaying game, or originally they were playing a roleplaying game where they…entering on an adventure into the World of Friends. So, the old double-double or whatever they call it. Double…it’s not an entendres, but they’re friends playing a board game. Or, it’s not a board game; it’s a roleplaying game and they’re not really playing it anymore. But they’re in the World of Friends and it’s pretty nice to be there with them.
But you know who I love to call a friend…though I don’t call him and he always laughs; he says…before he leaves, usually, he laughs. I say, why don’t you call me? We’ll catch up. Why were you…why did you drive by my…why were you near me and you didn’t call me to hang out? I just…inside, there’s a turning of something where I say, yeah, I’m just not emotionally capable of being your friend. I would love to, and…but there’s a friendship in my mind. John Denver never sang that song, or James Taylor, but it’s friendship in my mind. Wasn’t also…it was not in any of the Toy Story movies, either. So, it’s never been sang…I mean, it’s been sanged and sung. It’s already been sung, as they said.
But here he is, our announcer from Hollywood, which I like to call our Hollywood announcer, even though tech…then he says, my friend…but, I don't know. I was trying to think of a random city in Los Angeles that would be fun to say, but then I said, just in case you live there, I didn’t want to say it, you know. I could say, shout out to the Big Boys in Downey, because that was a few years ago when I said, I’m finally gonna eat at a Big Boy. This big boy’s gonna eat at a Big Boys, and it was the Downey Big Boys. Big Boy in Downey. Baron of the Boil’s Big Boy, maybe?
Anyway, it’s our Hollywood…maybe we could go there and not share a shake; have a shake. Then we could even say, shake, shake, shake our friendship. Mr. Antonio Banderas. Thank you. The friends beyond the binary, the ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, it’s time to journey into the World of Friends. Yippee-ay, friend. That would be nice; two of us sit down, have a milkshake or a coffee, and talk about how much we love the listeners and putting them to sleep. For the love of sleep. So good to be here. Yeah. That’s Mr. Antonio Banderas, and this is Journey Into the World of Friends. Thanks, everybody.
Okay, just…we’re all waking up here. Can anyone tell me exactly what is going on? Yeah, this is Emwatta; I could start at the beginning as efficiently as I can, but right now we’re stuck. We started playing…or we started designing a campaign. We didn’t have a DM, which I can’t…I can say we just didn’t have…no one wanted to be DM. So, we decided to design our own roleplaying game. It was my idea, but…where we journeyed into the World of Friends, the famous boat attraction in the Land of Leisure, a theme park, or one of…a magical kingdom within the Land of Leisure. It was a boat ride through a World of Friends, once a J-pop…I don't know if pre…but it was a famous soundtrack, a repetitive song over and over again.
It had a J-pop and then a K-pop reimagining, just the music, and the ride had been refurbished and reimagined slightly. But it was just friends, which were animatronic stuffies, I guess, as Zell said. What do we call it? Mary Bear and Pander the panda. Celebrating friendship across the globe, and you got to journey on a boat through the…through displays of these animatronics dancing and singing, once upon a time, in the time…the before…before the before-time. Then came the end of the before…the before-time, the before…but that was before the before-time, and then the before-time started. Then our time started, and we had played a game…a campaign similar to this where we went into the World of Tomorrow or Land of Tomorrow, and we had fun.
We said, what if we designed our own campaign where there’s an adventure to try to keep the flow of water going from across Florida, the state of the sun? Of course, there was other things in there, other layers; the new leader of Florida, the Baron of the Boil, she seemed to be a good leader even though she had risen up from the underworld and been a leader of the underworld. She was able to bring the free flow of the water back to Florida and restore it, which seemed to work for everybody except for…apparently both of her children. One, her son, and then her foundling son, Vedul, a powerful magic-user at this point who has taken over or seemed to have taken over the free flow of water, but also is attempting to unearth a portal to another world, maybe under the influence of Dragon, a powerful…maybe made of mist or spirit, maybe not great.
Vedul is using the work force of the attraction…oh, by the way, the well to another world or the portal, well, it also seems to be some sort of well which has created sentience in the attractions and the characters in the attractions. So, the World of Friends is…really is a world of friends, though Vedul seemed to have dominated and used them for a work force to rearrange the flow of water in order to get to this portal. We were tasked with reestablishing the free flow of water, primarily. The Baron of the Boil was under the impression that her son had…was a guest of Vedul’s who wanted to go home and needed a ride.
Turned out that, no, the Baron of the Boil’s son’s a happy guest of Vedul, and we thought we could have a backup where there was a countdown that would automatically override everything with consequences, of course, for the park, flooding the park and reestablishing the free flow of water from northern to southern Florida. But Vedul took over that, and also, we thought that the countdown had already begun for that to automatically happen. We thought maybe we could get Vedul’s…stop Vedul, get the Baron of the Boil’s son, and stop the countdown that we thought had begun in order to respect the sentience of the World of Friends. But if we were unable to stop Vedul, the countdown would complete.
Even if we all had sub-tasks or sub-adventures or quests…those main parts of our quest, we are 0 for 0, and looking like we’ll stay with that. The Baron of the Boil’s son is in cahoots with Vedul, so can’t help there. Vedul seems to have known what we were doing all along and led us right where Vedul wanted us to be. The countdown, actually, was never started, and Vedul knows about the countdown, and I don't even understand…I thought it was a set of magical runes or something, but we don’t have access to that anymore, either. So, that’s where things stand right now. Oh, Vedul said, you think about it. You could come in my world…I don't know. I don't really remember totally, but…I’m sorry, Grenada of Darmok, go ahead. Okay, so, the question is is there a way out of here other than Vedul?
Because the portal to our world’s right in that…the guest room outside of the office, but it’s behind a door, gates. Yeah, so, I don't know that we have a way out. I mean, we could try to get through those gates and get back to our world, or we could wait and go with…okay, so, this is Grenada of Darmok; so, there’s no way out of here? Also, by the way, Vedul said something about these two secure…so, we’re in a room with…we’re in the security room or one of the security rooms in the Handy Halls beneath the attractions. We thought we would use that to surprise Vedul. Maybe we could get one of these security bots to work for us, 'cause Mary Bear had a powerful one. But now it seems that there’s one that’s malfunctioning because it’s just rolling around, bumping into things, and humming.
I’m pretty sure last night I had a dream that it was saying, Number 5 is alive. I don't even know what that was, but then I woke up and it was…I thought it was actually saying that, but it was just humming; it wasn’t speaking. But the other two security bots, there’s a hum…an increasing humming and vibration coming from them, telling me that Vedul started their countdown to interfere with us. My impression is that those things are made of some sort of alloy, and I don't think…Vedul seemed to think that we would…but in that sense, it doesn’t really matter, 'cause we’re stuck in this room unless we just agree to help Vedul and then go live in a world of adventure, like, live in this world forever. That’s my impression. But we’re stuck.
Yeah, I’m not sure I totally understand the offer, either, Grenada, and I’m not even sure…but I think you got it right. We stay here and we can be a part of it and join in this world and do some stuff for Vedul, which Vedul maintains is for the best of the world. So, we’d have to separate Vedul’s methods of encouraging us from Vedul’s words, or we could stay in this room and deal…try to deal with the bots or get out before they power up — but we’ve been led to the impression that that’s almost impossible — or we could try to somehow get into that portal and go home. We’d have to get through that door. Okay, this is Grenada; do you think that portal to our world is even…I mean, that’s your couch, right, Watta? It is. Does anybody have anything from our world that they could throw…? Okay, go ahead, Lord von Chill.
Lord von Chill here; I’ve become aware that I’m wearing socks that are from this world even though I’m Lord von Chill…Lord von Chill, in our world we came from, where socks…and so, I could throw my…well, I’d have to throw both my socks. It’d be easier to ball them up and throw them through, though then I would have no socks. Okay, why don’t you do that and then throw it through the portal and we’ll see? ‘Cause you could throw it through the gate — the gate’s just straight lines — and get it through the portal. Then, yeah, if you miss, then we’ll try somebody else’s socks. Okay, go…Zell, did you want to say…? Yeah, this just seems simple. We’re here on an adventure, but we’re fleet of foot, strong in arms, strong in mind…Your Grace, powerful in magic, and someone that works for the Three Florences.
So, we just…we get to work. We’ll get our way outta here. I mean, I guess we still have to stop Vedul, so we have to get out. If the bots come awake…can someone please ask that bot to stop humming? It’s almost like a song or it’s just…can someone…? Holy cow. Eleanor? I’ve tried. Last night I could not sleep and I did try to stand and face the bot. I begged the bot. The thing is, the bot never stopped moving, but it was aware of my presence 'cause it wouldn’t bump into me, 'cause I kept trying to stand in front of it and say, please stop humming, please stop that noise. I did get on the bot and ride it and try to find a switch, and I could not do that. But also, I don't know. I was kind of thinking, Zell, what if we just go with Vedul and we get outta here and then we go along with Vedul with our fingers crossed or something, kind of?
We just see how it goes. No, Vedul…I mean, come on, we know Vedul…this is the time for all-or-nothing thinking. Really? This is Watta; can you read Vedul’s mind? Okay, this is Lord von Chill; I do have to lay out, can we really trust the Baron of the Boil? I mean, the Baron of the Boil ran the underworld and became a good leader and was good to us, mostly. I mean, on a transactional level, the Baron of the Boil is great to work with. So…but what if Vedul…why can’t we just find out and see how it goes? Okay, Grenada, go ahead. Okay, can you throw your socks through there? Because I’m under the impression, looking around, that even if we did roll 20s, all of us, I don't see a way that, with what we have, we can get outta here. So, Zell, what…we don’t really seem to have a choice, here. Right.
This is Watta; maybe we just have to make…oh, the sock did go through, and we can see it in front of the couch. That was a good throw, Lord…thank you. Your Grace can throw socks. Okay, so, it’s gonna…this is gonna cause me a disadvantage, though, if we were rolling…it’s weird that we’re rolling dice in our minds, right? Is everybody else rolling…? Like, I rolled dice. I don't know. It’s just a strange effect of this whole thing, but it’s been going on too long to be a dream. Okay, so, yeah, we’re assuming this is real, so we do need to make a choice. We can’t just…we can’t be passive, here. We did all roll in our minds how…do we have the ability to get out of here using our expertise and tools and things? What if we make…I just think we gotta make the best choice we can. Yeah, this is Eleanor again; what if we can have both things?
This is a call to a new world of adventure, and we can…but the thing is, with…maybe we should try…did we roll 20s even to get that gate open? Because that does change things. But we could right the wrong. Let’s say we can’t get to the portal and we just have to work with Vedul…and then we right the wrong after. We could…most…some of us are charming, and Lord von Chill’s a leader. Maybe we could create forces and counteract Vedul. Okay, this is Zell; what about our friends, right, and this magical portal that is gonna…and some sort of dragon being that…I think…what about if it does something to our world, too? Wasn’t that part of the thing? Okay, hold on.
This is Grenada of Darmok, Zell; so, well…I mean, we could split up, but that’s…would be…you’re just gonna stay here, or then you’re gonna go with Vedul but not go with Vedul? You’re not gonna…? Go ahead, Watta. Yeah, Zell, there’s no way…you’re not gonna be…even as a…we’re not gonna be able to magically just stop Vedul, okay? This is a reality check, I guess, Zell, is what I’m saying, is right now we have to improvise and be in the reality we are in and accept it and not have all-or-nothing thinking. Oh, boy. This is Zell; did you just say reality? You gotta be kidding me. We have no idea what reality is right now. Okay, this is Grenada; can I just…I just want to go home, okay? I get it. I get that no one’s doing this intentionally, that it’s not a dream, and I just want to go home. So, is there a way to stop this, or is it real?
Right. So, it is real, and I want to go home. I do not want to stay in this room and not go home, and I didn’t sign up for this when…okay, go ahead, Zell. Yeah, none of us signed up for this. I get it, but we gotta do what’s right. It’s not about our needs anymore. Okay, this is Eleanor; for the love of the Three Florences, this is…so, what kind of friend takes their…? I don't take my Florencian values, Zell, and tell you how to live by the Three Florences, and I don't know if it’s okay for you to take how you process your choices and lay it on Grenada or me or anybody else. What kind of friend does that? We’re gonna set aside stuff for…wait a second, there’s something happening. Ah, this is Vedul again. Hello, adventurers. You’ve been talking, I hear. By the…thing…one more thing; yeah, the bots are almost active.
I have one more thing; let’s lower the gates to that…to the portal there. Yeah. Some stinky socks went through that portal. I’ll give you one more option, one more thing, one last thing. What if one of you could go home right now and the rest of you could decide what you want to do? But I’ll let one of you go home. It’s a sign of goodwill and my intention. I need your help and I don't really have the time or the energy to focus on engaging with you, and actually, I don't need to. That’s the thing. Talk about intention; my intention was to lead you to a place where you could make your choice, and the choice would be…the right choice would be clear. I really don’t have the resources…we’re working on stuff, opening up this portal. It’s a well of past beings.
Here’s the thing; you could be a part of that well and then reawaken in one of the attractions that hasn’t been fully-sentient yet. So, in some sense, you’ll be joining me no matter what. So, why can’t we work together? I thought you cared about the friends. Yeah, they’re working hard for me, but I’ve established some parameters with them. Not all of them like it. So, why don’t we do this; you could wait ‘til the bots power up and decide who goes home, and, yeah, just let me know. I’ll be listening and watching. You just let me know what you decide. Oh, gosh. Okay, this is Grenada; that’s…that other…the other bot seems to be making a louder noise, so I can’t even think straight. Okay, this is Lord von Chill; I mean, this is obvious. Grenada can go. What does everybody else say?
Grenada was not originally part of this party, and I brought Grenada into this, so I have to make a choice…say Grenada can go home. Yeah, this is Watta; I guess I’m fine with that. I just have one…but yeah, let’s just go through and build consensus. This is Eleanor; yeah, the bot is singing. It’s getting so loud that I cannot…or is it singing or humming? What is it? It’s not Happy Birthday; it’s…but it’s so repetitive. Okay, this is Zell; before we make any choices, Watta, we’re being observed, and I guess, Eleanor…is there a way to…are those the electric eyes and the electric ears watching us or is it magic? Can you give us some privacy while we figure this out? Okay, this I Watta; I can easily block the electric eyes, and that is…Vedul…how Vedul is watching us.
For the…I think the humming of the…maybe could create…Eleanor, can you do something…? Yeah, I can do something, but I think the humming of the…I don't think Vedul can hear us anyway at this point, 'cause I can barely hear you. It’s a good thing we’re sitting so close to each other. Okay, so, I don't know if that’s a incidental thing. But yeah, just create a little bit more noise. Okay, Vedul cannot see us anymore, Zell. Yeah, and I think it’s a safe bet that Vedul can’t hear us. I think if you hum the song in your mind, it counteracts…is there any way you could do that so we could have some thinking…or every…? Okay, everybody…can everybody…yeah, oh, that kinda works, yeah. Like, just in the background of your mind, hum along. Okay. Yeah, and my sound-blocker should be working.
It’s like when you go to talk to someone in private. Okay. Oh, the bot’s going face-to-face with one of the other bots that’s powering up. But listen; I would vote for Grenada to go but I don't think you should, Grenada, because I don't trust Vedul. I don't need to roll a dice to know that that’s too good to be true, that offer to just…one person go home. Two things are gonna happen; you will forever stay here as soon as you get…as soon as you cross over, or you’ll…we won't know. I just don’t trust Vedul. I don't think that’s actually a portal home even though the socks…that’s a trick. It could be physical, it could be magical, it could be spiritual, it could be moral. It’s not a portal you want to cross.
Okay, this is Grenada; I guess I gotta say that the other bot is about to…the other bot is grab…so, the humming bot is grabbing one of the other bots, and the other bot is becoming active. But I think at this point, I accept that. I think we can’t split up, even one of us, or even in…what we’re gonna do next. Reality right here is that that bot seems to be grabbing the other bot, but we’re gonna have to deal with the…there’s two bots becoming active. One’s engaged with the humming bot that seemed to be malfunctioning. It seems to be using some sort of laser light drill on the…but, okay, so, we’re gonna have to start…everybody get ready. Okay, so, this is Lord von Chill; why doesn’t everybody get behind me and Zell? This is gonna be similar to a iron golem.
We’ve done this before, but it probably has some sort of range, so we’ll use our shields, if we could get a magical shield going…and let’s see. Okay, I’m gonna go forward and…oh, the bot is active, but I’ve…okay, it’s gonna take a lot of action to get this bot, but we’ve…I’ve made contact. It looks like we do have good initiative. There’s Watta…oh, a magical dart there. Okay. Whoa boy, that did well. Oh, and Eleanor, you’re calling on the power of all Three Florences to smite this…okay, wow. Okay…with radiance. Oh, Zell, you missed. That’s okay, though; just keep your shield ready. Grenada…oh, Grenada, you’re sneaking around the side and using a double. Okay. Oh no, that’s a…is that oil? Okay. I don't know if that’s gonna work in…oh, it’s working on its tracks. Oh, it can’t move very well.
I was gonna say, please don’t…that’s this room. Oof, that…it got…that was…it definitely made impact on me. I’m feeling…everybody hear that clang? Okay, I’m gonna…oh yeah, I got another knock on it. It does seem that we’re slowly doing something. Watta…oh boy, that’s another good one, Watta. Oh, Zell, nice one. Oh, then Grenada, you’re still behind. Okay, sneaking; nice. Oh, thank you for healing me a little bit with the power of the Three Florences, Eleanor. Oh, right at the same time, that…I’ve been impacted again. Okay, but I’m going right back. Another on there…oh, good, Watta. We’re not missing here, so this is good. I guess 'cause it’s…we’re all so close. Zell again…this could take a long time. I will take the majority of the impacts, though. Okay, Grenada, another one.
Okay…oof, this…that is…okay, thank you, Grenada…or Eleanor, for another impact and another healing. Okay, I’m going again. Oh, then Watta…whoa, Watta, that was powerful. Was that a ray? I’m looking over in the other…despite being a little bit out of it, the other bot is seemingly almost shut down. The humming bot is winning. Oh, what…Grenada, is that acidic…an acid or a base? Oh wow, that seems to be doing something. Zell…oh, that time it missed me. That was the first time the bot has missed me with its…it’s some sort of…I don't know what that…what you would call that; a giant arm? Okay, don't worry about me, 'cause I think we’re on it. Please, Eleanor, focus on…okay, good, good. More power of the Florences. I’m gonna hit it again. Watta, again. We’ve conquered the bot.
I’m not feeling so great, so I’m gonna sit down. The other thing is I’m noticing that we’re…the bot is still rolling around, humming. At least Vedul does not know what happened, so that’s an advantage. Go ahead, Grenada. Yeah, I think we used up a lot of the resources in this room for that. So…and just the idea…that portal sitting there, it…I don't know. I think it’s meant to do something to us on an emotional level, like really let us know that even if we…there must be something that would…if someone goes through there, it’ll unlock the door, right? That bot’s bumping into the door. The bot is trying to communicate with us, right, or is that just my imagination? It may be malfunctioning, but I think that that portal is there to keep us here. You know what I mean?
Almost as a party…to divide our party by how it makes us feel, 'cause everybody else is gonna be jealous. Even if I went through it and it gave the illusion…or even if I actually crossed over, it would leave all of you in a worse position. You’d still have to make the choice you have to make. So, it just would hurt all of us, and we’re already all hurting, right? We don’t have any good options still, even though we defeated the bot. None of us want this and none of us really know what to do. But I have developed a love for all of you even though I’m the newest member of the party. So, I just wanted to say that. I love you, Grenada, and I do love everyone else in this party. Thank you for saying that. Yeah, this is Eleanor; I have a love for everyone. I love everyone in this party, and I really don’t know…I have no idea what to do.
This stinks. I don't know what else to say. Yeah, this is Watta; I know…yeah, we don’t know…we’re all…I know we all kinda want slightly different things here, but I love and care about all of you deeply, and I know we’re all hurting together. This is Grenada; if I had to be stuck with anyone for the rest of it, it would be with all of you, so…and I don't know…if it had…maybe…hopefully if we reimagine…if we become…that bot is still bumping the door and then backing up to us. But let me finish what I’m saying before I start saying…but maybe we’ll all end up in the same attraction as sentient…will we have our consciousness?
This is Lord von Chill; if I had to be fooled by a dragon wizard-type…heavy, that would…and had to choose between going through a portal or staying here with all of you…a portal that won't work out, probably, but even if there’s a chance it would, I would stay here with all of you. Yeah, this is Zell; so, if I was playing a roleplaying game and then had to be swept into another world…this is Watta; we were designing the game. Thank you, Watta. If I had to be swept into another world with all of you from a game, a roleplaying game, creation session or whatever it is, into another world based on what we were working on and then end up in a hopeless situation, I’m glad it’s with all of you, my friends.
Yeah, this is…if I had to face an impossible test, even if it was at school or here…and there was a search…that we’re gonna have to search against all odds in the next few minutes to get outta this…but at least we could enjoy the process of searching together, something I’ve learned from Eleanor and the Three Florences. It would be with my friends, this party. Wait a second; this is Eleanor. Grenada’s right; the bot…friends…a World of Friends. The bot is singing a song, trying to tell us something. Didn’t anybody ever…this was a real place, right? This place actually existed. I remember there was some legend about…wasn’t it that? Does anybody remember that they had locks and they were singing-based locks, like a voice-activated lock where you could sing a song? Wasn’t that in a movie or something?
This is Grenada; yeah, like a singing lock. That’s what it’s bumping against. Isn’t that some sort of electric ear? It is. It’s humming into the electric ear and it’s changing from red to just barely red. I just thought it was some sort of malfunction. Zell, why don’t you go up to it and say, welcome…? Oh, the bot is react…it’s moving out of Zell’s way. Okay, I’m gonna say, welcome to the World of Friends. Did it…it changed color. Okay, the bot is moving and humming, so it’s the song. Okay. I don't get it. This is Watta; it’s gotta be the harmony for the song. Remember? That’s the whole thing. The song was the popular thing about the attraction, but we don’t know the song because it’s been so long. Okay, does…okay. Maybe…wait, did…this is Lord von Chill; remember when we were going through that storage room?
I think there was a children’s book in there about the attraction with a record. Remember those plastic ways they would listen to music? Okay, go get it. Go get it. Okay, so, we just sing the song and you think…? Go ahead and just sing something, Zell. Okay, well, I’ll just pretend…it’ll sound like I’m talking because of the spell, right? Right, the spell so Vedul can’t hear us will make it sound like you’re talking even when you’re singing. Okay, welcome to the World of Friends. Okay, it definitely changed from red to orange, more orange. Try humming what the bot is humming, just to see. Okay, hum, hum, hum. World of Friends…oh yeah, it definitely did something. Okay, this is Lord von Chill; the children’s book is very wet and we don’t have a way to…I don't see any way to play this plastic disk.
Okay, well, let’s take a look at it here. Okay, everybody gather around. Okay, so, it goes…okay, it looks like it’s four sections; lyrics, then the chorus — that’s the famous part — then more lyrics, then the chorus again, the same one. See? Those are similar. So, we can figure out the chorus. Okay, let’s put all these pages next to each other. Okay, okay, good idea. Okay, so, let’s work on the chorus. Welcome to the World of Friends. You are in the…something in the World of Friends. Come…something, in the World of Friends. Something, something, join you in the World of Friends. We’re something, something, something…the something World of Friends. So, that must be the World of Friends. Then, I can’t read any of that. Okay, this is so annoying. Okay, but if we look at both copies of the thing, it’s welcome to the World of Friends.
You are welcome in the World of Friends. Then come…okay, that’s ruined on both of them. Palace? No. There’s no rhyming; it’s just repeating, so…okay, welcome to the World of Friends. So, welcome to the World of Friends. You are welcome in the World of Friends. Come…palace? No. Any…? It’s Grenada; what about join us in the World of Friends? That makes sense. Come join us. Okay, I like that. Yeah, yeah, that could be a J. Okay, and…oh yeah, 'cause…and something, something, join you. So, join you in the World of Friends. Those are…could those be…we will join you in the World of Friends? Okay, we’ve got…we’re close. Okay, this one…we…the World of Friends. Three words, maybe?
Then…okay, this is Watta; I bet you the end is…okay, so, we just gotta figure out these three words, 'cause I think the end is welcome to the World of Friends. It would make sense. Okay, so, we are…are, right? Are…I don't know. This is hard. This is Eleanor; we’re already in the World of Friends. That’s what it says. Oh, okay. So…okay, so, we have that twice. Okay, this beginning part…if you look at the pictures, it’s showing good friendship and then…friendship good? Then friendship is…okay, that’s a frowny-faced kid, right? Or whatever…that’s not a kid; it’s a zebra. Okay, so, that’s a frowny-faced zebra. Friendship is good, friendship is tough. Okay, okay. Don’t forget your friends when the going gets rough. Okay, is that it? I guess so. Okay, so, then the end of the…okay.
This one…okay, this one, there’s no negative, it looks like. All the friends are happy. Oh, wait a second, could we go back? This seems to be double…the first thing, I think we might be wrong. Okay, can we just go…can we circle that? Will you remember that, Lord von Chill? Okay. So, this one…hm. Oh, this…okay, now I see what you’re saying, Lord von Chill, because this one has…’build’ and ‘give’ are at the same time in the song. Build and give your friendships…your friends…your friendship’s trust? Okay, be sure…what if we mumble some of it? Be sure to ask for help. That one’s…are you kidding me? The third line is ‘fun, fun, fun’? Yeah. It could be fun, fun, fun. So, it’s just a lot of ‘funs’. Do we have…some of them are blotted, though.
Yeah, it could be…I think it’s just all the…them saying ‘fun’ a lot, because it was originally in English, then it was translated to Japanese, then it was translated in Korean, in…it was translated in every language of the world, every spoken language. Okay, fun, fun, fun…in the times of some…oh, trust and must. Okay, so that one is ‘must’. In times…something, the friend is a must. So, have no fear, the World of Friends is right here. Okay. Then Lord von Chill, you were saying that first one is, can you be…find a friend? Friendship is good, friendship is tough…can you be…find a friend when the going gets rough? Then we sing the thing and then we sing the other lyric, then we sing it again. Then the door will open, and then what are we gonna do? Oh, we’ll…Grenada, why don’t you…?
Okay, we’ll…I would assume that Vedul would think that there’s no way outta here. There’s no way Vedul…so, Vedul will eventually…Vedul’s waiting for someone to go through the portal, because eventually we…someone would have gone through the portal. So, if we actually open the door…wait, the bot is listening to us. Are you actually understanding what we’re saying? Okay, it is actually understanding what we’re saying. Okay, so, I think what we do is we get the door open, prepared for action on the other side…but this is kinda hard to access, right? So, Vedul’s gonna wait and then send somebody down, so then we can surprise them. I don't know, I think we get outta here, right? But there’s no way that all of Vedul’s team’s on the other side, 'cause Vedul said they were busy.
This was the perfect plan if this thing…if the door gets open. We can just wait it out. We have time, right? Actually, we could then…maybe if the bot’s listening, you could eventually have a timer or something to push something through the portal. Okay, I don't know if the bot understands, 'cause it just keeps humming. But anyway, I think we’re in good shape. Okay, so, let’s do it all together. But because of the…so, we’ll sing this, but it’s gonna sound like we’re…because of the way…the spell you weaved, it’ll sound like only I’m talking. So, just make sure you’re hearing it in your head, the singing and the…right? Okay, is everybody ready? Okay, oh, hold on. Lord von Chill here; so, which of us is gonna say ‘be’ and ‘find’? Oh, this is Zell; I’ll say ‘be’. Watta and Eleanor will say ‘be’, and you and Grenada say ‘find’.
Okay, 'cause we found each other as friends…more than friends, but…and we’ve all found…well, we’ll…yeah, and Zell, you need to focus on being a friend. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Okay, what was the other double one? Build and give? Well, obviously, Lord von Chill, you’re not…you don’t…maybe you shouldn’t sing at all, ‘build’ or ‘give’. So, we’ll build…we’ll build trust and you and Grenada can give trust on the beginning of the other one. Then the fun, fun, fun thing…this is Watta; I know it’s strange coming from me because I tend to be very neutral at all times, but I think we have to actually have fun. I think that’s the trick of it. Okay, so, what do you think? Let’s all dance around with each…yeah, yeah. Yeah, everybody do a silly dance. Let’s dance our way over to the electric…the bot seems to like that.
Everybody dance around the bot. Yeah, let’s get into the mood. I know I’m not one that’s in the mood, but do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. Zell, you’re our leader, so take it. A one, a two, and a three. Friendship is good, friendship is tough. Can you be…find a friend when the going gets rough? Welcome to the World of Friends. You are welcome in the World of Friends. Come join us in the World of Friends, and we will join you in the World of Friends. We are already in the World of Friends. Welcome to the World of Friends. Build…give your trust to build…give your friends…be sure to ask for help. Fun, fun, fun. In times of trouble, a friend is a must.
So, have no fear, the World of Friends is right here. Welcome to the World of Friends. You are welcome in the World of Friends. Come join us in the World of Friends, and we will join you in the World of Friends. We are already in the World of Friends. Welcome to the World of Friends. Wow, that…it seems that the light is changing color. It only took us thirty-six times, though I think 'cause of the noise block, it only felt like once. But I’m really worn out from that. So, what if we…can we close the door and reopen it now? Yeah, we can. Okay, so, let’s close the door and then we’ll…well, yeah, let’s…can we…oh, what is that button?
Oh, we can stop the door halfway and rest here and get some rest, and then we’ll be ready for Vedul. Right? Does that sound good to everybody? It does sound like we need to rest. That’s a great idea. So, let’s get some rest and then we’ll deal with everything else later. Goodnight, friends. Welcome…that was fun. I’m glad we all got to work together and stay together and share together. Thanks, Grenada, for your honesty, and everyone else for your friendship, and…including you, Grenada. Goodnight, everybody.
[END OF RECORDING]
(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)
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Journey Into The World of Friends
Diamonds
https://www.pbsnc.org/blogs/science/how-to-make-your-own-diamonds/
https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/formation-of-diamonds/
https://geology.com/articles/diamonds-from-coal/
Voice Recognition Software
https://www.totalvoicetech.com/a-brief-history-of-voice-recognition-technology/
https://www.senstone.io/a-very-brief-history-of-speech-recognition/
Playground Song Library
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2020/06/kids-explain-their-rhymes-games-and-songs/
https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/origins-of-5-popular-playground-rhymes/
Longest Running D and D Game
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-dandd-campaign-has-been-running-for-40-years/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/20/us/dungeons-and-dragons-longest-game-great-big-story-trnd/index.html
https://nerdist.com/article/dungeons-and-dragons-campaign-running-for-over-40-years/
DOWN TO BUSINESS
Have I ever shouted out sentient games before?
Not Necessarily No Nonsense
Deep Dark Night United
Margaret (Helix Sleep)
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INTRO
Thinking Thoughts’ Thoughts
Feelings left over from the day
You’re not alone
I know that it can be very lonely in the deep dark night
A Strange, Digitally Distributed Care
Over the time, I’ve been able to lower the volume on the dread
1 of my baby toes will dread
But the other 9 are looking forward to the wind down routine
I could be using a little more Bay Area fog in my life right now
I’m not here to put you to sleep
Bore Bestie 4 Eva
I’ve still never been successful in getting people to come to the live show
I tried to teach people how to be sleepy, but other people didn’t want that
Someone just told me that the episodes amount to 30 days straight of nonstop SWM listening
I shine like a diamond that’s still in the rough
My diamond would be in a ruff in the rough
The Archetypal Place to Wallow
I’d be a diamond in a Mud Bog
And then there’d be all kinds of plant detritus on top of that
I shine in my own, not very shiny way
I do believe in the Hollywood Mud Bog
Come on down and wallow at Wallow’s Mud Bog
Regular listeners know I tried a mud bath once
It was more bark bath than mud bath
I thought I’d be living my best life by taking a mud bath
Oh, this isn’t my own therapy session? Whoops
STORY
A story about … 5 friends
The Old Double Double
There’s friendship on my mind
Our Hollywood Announcer who’s not from Hollywood
Shoutout to the Big Boy at Downey
I’d love to share a milkshake with Antonio
Em Watta recaps what has happened
They crafted a DM-less game, but then got sucked into the game
A ride of animatronic stuffies, as Zel calls them
The Baron of the Boil wanted to bring the flow of water back to Floridah
BB’s son and Vidul, her foundling son, are both combating BB
A magical well has brought sentience to the friends
Grenada wants to know if there’s another way out
They’re in a room with 2 security bots
One of them is just bumping around, humming, maybe saying, “#5 is Alive”
They must be made of some sort of alloy
Vidul maintains this is what’s best for the world
LVC has become aware that he’s wearing socks from their original world
What happens if we throw socks through the portal
Can someone please ask that bot to stop humming that song?
This bot won’t stop, despite Eleanor’s best efforts
A debate about who to ally themselves with
Even if we all rolled 20s, we wouldn’t be able to get out
LVC threw the sock through the portal onto the couch
It’s weird, we’re rolling dice in our minds, right?
Did we roll 20s to get that gate open?
Maybe we work with Vidul and then right the wrong afterward
We have to accept our reality
Infighting develops over what Reality is
Eleanor is mad at Zel for imposing his views on them
Vidul returns to check in
The bots are almost active
One of them can go home, and the rest can join later
Vidul just wanted to provide them with a choice, which he did
LVC thinks Grenada should go
Watta is fine with that
What song is that bot singing??
Watta creates some privacy from the electric eyes and electric ears
One of the bots is facing off against another bot
Zel thinks they shouldn’t trust Vidul and take their offer
Grenada chimes in
The humming bot is grabbing one of the other bots
They won’t split up
Everyone get behind LVC and Zel
These bots will probably be similar to an Iron Golem
Watta sent magical darts
The 3 Florences try to smite the bot with Radiance
Zel misses, but that’s okay
Grenada spills oil on the robot tracks so it can’t move
LVC will take the brunt of the damage
Eleanor heals LVC
The Humming Bot is Winning
An extended combat sequence
The bot is still rolling around and humming
Vidul does not know what has happened
The portal is meant to do something to us
The bot is trying to communicate to us, right?
The portal is gonna divide us based on how we feel about it
We’re all hurting together
This stinks, but I’m glad we’re all together
Everyone shares the same sentiments
At least we can enjoy searching for the solution together
The bot is singing a song from “The World of Friends”
This place had Singing-Based Locks
We have to sing the harmony for the song to unlock the door
But we don’t know the song!
Just sing anything, Zel
The light is changing from red to orange!
Humming is working
This children’s book and plastic music disc are very wet
There’s 4 sections: Lyric, Chorus, Lyric, Chorus
Decoding the music
A spell will make the singing sound just like normal speech
There’s no rhyming in this song, it’s just repeating the same words
What’s the ending?
We are already in the world of friends!
A Frowny Faced Zebra
Don’t forget your friends when the going gets rough!
Decoding lyrics from picture clues
The 3rd line is just Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun?
I think they truly do just say “Fun” a lot
Trust must rhyme with Must
I think we can surprise Vidul if we do this get this song-based door open
Let’s all sing together but it’ll just sound like Zel is speaking by himself
I think we generally have to have fun while we’re singing this song
Dance around the bot!
Wow, we only had to sing the song 36 times to get the door open
We can close the door for now but reopen it later
Let’s stop the door halfway and rest before we go to Vidul
I’m glad we got to work together and sing together
Zela and Grenada’s relationship starts to thaw
PATREON THANKS
Frank, Danny, John, Yara, Zandy, Julianna, Anhalla, Zadig, Steve, Joanne, Tom, Bryce, Dawn, Laura, Suro, Lucinda, Claudio, Steve, Lucy, Heather, Meredith, Clover, Brandon, Nate
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1,213
Title: Singing Song of Friendship | Journey Into The World of Friends Ep 10
Deep Dark Night United: Margaret (Helix Sleep)
Plugs: Friends of Hand in Hand; Pete Davidson SNL Monologue; The Midnight Mission; Trevor Project; Patreon; SleepPhones; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program
Sponsors: Hello Fresh; Polysleep; Odoo; Helix Sleep; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive
Patreon Thanks: Frank, Danny, John, Yara, Zandy, Julianna, Anhalla, Zadig, Steve, Joanne, Tom, Bryce, Dawn, Laura, Suro, Lucinda, Claudio, Steve, Lucy, Heather, Meredith, Clover, Brandon, Nate
Notable Language:
- Not Necessarily No Nonsense
- A Strange, Digitally Distributed Care
- Bore Bestie 4 Eva
- The Archetypal Place to Wallow
- Hollywood Mud Bog
- Wallow
- Idealized Wallowing
- The Old Double Double
- Laser Light Drill
- Singing-Based Locks (SBL)
- A Frowny Faced Zebra
Notable Culture:
- Brain Games (HBO)
-
- The Daily Show
- Stephen King – The Dark Tower
- Wallow’s Mud Bog
- The Brady Bunch
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Antonio Banderas
- John Denver
- Big Boy
- Disney World
- “It’s A Small World”
- JPOP
- KPOP
Notable Talking Points:
- Thinking Thoughts’ Thoughts
- Feelings left over from the day
- You’re not alone
- I know that it can be very lonely in the deep dark night
- A Strange, Digitally Distributed Care
- Over the time, I’ve been able to lower the volume on the dread
- 1 of my baby toes will dread
- But the other 9 are looking forward to the wind down routine
- I could be using a little more Bay Area fog in my life right now
- I’m not here to put you to sleep
- Bore Bestie 4 Eva
- I’ve still never been successful in getting people to come to the live show
- I tried to teach people how to be sleepy, but other people didn’t want that
- Someone just told me that the episodes amount to 30 days straight of nonstop SWM listening
- I shine like a diamond that’s still in the rough
- My diamond would be in a ruff in the rough
- The Archetypal Place to Wallow
- I’d be a diamond in a Mud Bog
- And then there’d be all kinds of plant detritus on top of that
- I shine in my own, not very shiny way
- I do believe in the Hollywood Mud Bog
- Come on down and wallow at Wallow’s Mud Bog
- Regular listeners know I tried a mud bath once
- It was more bark bath than mud bath
- I thought I’d be living my best life by taking a mud bath
- Oh, this isn’t my own therapy session? Whoops
- A story about … 5 friends
- The Old Double Double
- There’s friendship on my mind
- Our Hollywood Announcer who’s not from Hollywood
- Shoutout to the Big Boy at Downey
- I’d love to share a milkshake with Antonio
- Em Watta recaps what has happened
- They crafted a DM-less game, but then got sucked into the game
- A ride of animatronic stuffies, as Zel calls them
- The Baron of the Boil wanted to bring the flow of water back to Floridah
- BB’s son and Vidul, her foundling son, are both combating BB
- A magical well has brought sentience to the friends
- Grenada wants to know if there’s another way out
- They’re in a room with 2 security bots
- One of them is just bumping around, humming, maybe saying, “#5 is Alive”
- They must be made of some sort of alloy
- Vidul maintains this is what’s best for the world
- LVC has become aware that he’s wearing socks from their original world
- What happens if we throw socks through the portal
- Can someone please ask that bot to stop humming that song?
- This bot won’t stop, despite Eleanor’s best efforts
- A debate about who to ally themselves with
- Even if we all rolled 20s, we wouldn’t be able to get out
- LVC threw the sock through the portal onto the couch
- It’s weird, we’re rolling dice in our minds, right?
- Did we roll 20s to get that gate open?
- Maybe we work with Vidul and then right the wrong afterward
- We have to accept our reality
- Infighting develops over what Reality is
- Eleanor is mad at Zel for imposing his views on them
- Vidul returns to check in
- The bots are almost active
- One of them can go home, and the rest can join later
- Vidul just wanted to provide them with a choice, which he did
- LVC thinks Grenada should go
- Watta is fine with that
- What song is that bot singing??
- Watta creates some privacy from the electric eyes and electric ears
- One of the bots is facing off against another bot
- Zel thinks they shouldn’t trust Vidul and take their offer
- Grenada chimes in
- The humming bot is grabbing one of the other bots
- They won’t split up
- Everyone get behind LVC and Zel
- These bots will probably be similar to an Iron Golem
- Watta sent magical darts
- The 3 Florences try to smite the bot with Radiance
- Zel misses, but that’s okay
- Grenada spills oil on the robot tracks so it can’t move
- LVC will take the brunt of the damage
- Eleanor heals LVC
- The Humming Bot is Winning
- An extended combat sequence
- The bot is still rolling around and humming
- Vidul does not know what has happened
- The portal is meant to do something to us
- The bot is trying to communicate to us, right?
- The portal is gonna divide us based on how we feel about it
- We’re all hurting together
- This stinks, but I’m glad we’re all together
- Everyone shares the same sentiments
- At least we can enjoy searching for the solution together
- The bot is singing a song from “The World of Friends”
- This place had Singing-Based Locks
- We have to sing the harmony for the song
- But we don’t know the song!
- Just sing anything, Zel
- The light is changing from red to orange!
- Humming is working
- This children’s book and plastic music disc are very wet
- There’s 4 sections: Lyric, Chorus, Lyric, Chorus
- Decoding the music
- A spell will make the singing sound just like normal speech
- There’s no rhyming in this song, it’s just repeating the same words
- What’s the ending?
- We are already in the world of friends!
- A Frowny Faced Zebra
- Don’t forget your friends when the going gets rough!
- Decoding lyrics from picture clues
- The 3rd line is just Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun?
- I think they truly do just say “Fun” a lot
- Trust must rhyme with Must
- I think we can surprise Vidul if we do this get this song-based door open
- Let’s all sing together but it’ll just sound like Zel is speaking by himself
- I think we generally have to have fun while we’re singing this song
- Dance around the bot!
- Wow, we only had to sing the song 36 times to get the door open
- We can close the door for now but reopen it later
- Let’s stop the door halfway and rest before we go to Vidul
- I’m glad we got to work together and sing together
- Zela and Grenada’s relationship starts to thaw
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