Big Gay Nerds

This is it, the grand finale of the Gorox Arc! As if being trapped in a deadly space-arena mirror match wasn't bad enough, the New Wave now have to deal with their most powerful member seemingly losing control of her powers! Will Juno recover in time to spare her friends? Will Pate's brawn stand up against alien tech and cosmic forces? Will Luke be able to work alongside Lady Photon without being pulled into her agenda? Will Pipa be forced to hurt the person she cares about the most? Listen on and find out! Content warning for personality/mental agency shift, brief firearm violence Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

It's here! Gorox the Vanquisher has summoned the New Wave for the climactic stage of their Hero Review, but it won't be the straightforward rematch they were expecting! Once again I have almost nothing to say that wouldn't give away the best bits, so let me be frustratingly vague: prepare for new and familiar faces, surprisingly easy victories and shockingly major setbacks, and at least one French accent! Content warning for personality/mental agency shift Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

With their foes defeated--through very different methods--our heroes find themselves regrouping when one half's mentor meetup overlaps with the other half's emergency phone call. With some fresh cuts and a lot on their minds, will a helping hand from senior heroes be just what they need, or an embarrassing distraction? Also, a tangent that leads up to that time Superman saved Joseph Stalin's life. Content warning for some description of stab wounds (mostly on a synthetic person). Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

When we last left our heroes, the split party was faced with a two-pronged attack sent by their extraterrestrial reviewer! Juno and Pate are up against a synthetic shape, but when their all-you-have-is-a-hammer approach to conflict proves fruitless, can they get inside the head of a Platonic solid? Meanwhile, Pipa and Luke's foe is much more is much more straightforward, but her bloodthristy fighting style may be too much for an injury-prone Brain and a punch-pulling Innocent! Can either duo come out on top, and at what cost? Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

The New Wave decides to prepare for Gorox's return by gearing up and splitting up, with Luke and Pipa street-testing new equipment while Juno and Pate look to elder heroes for advice. However, both duos soon learn that there's more peril to a Hero Review than the final confrontation... first, they'll have to face the cowed champions of far-flung worlds! Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

The freshly-named NEW WAVE are staring down the barrel of a hero review that could spell death, or at least interstellar embarrassment, if they don't get their act together; however, they've always struggled to train without heavy property and/or emotional damage. Will a little help from Asterion be just what they need, or are the vibes unsalvageable? Juno tries to play nice, Pate gets tactical, Pipa gets hands-on, and Luke makes it weird. Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

We're jumping back in post-cliffhanger! Pipa has been Taken Out by the extraterrestrial warlord Gorox the Vanquisher; what could possibly come next? Well there's next to nothing I can say about it that isn't a spoiler, so LISTEN AND FIND OUT, TRUE BELIEVERS! Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

Our heroes are all back in one place again, but after the events of our last block they're not very happy about it. Not even the allure of professional football in their literal backyard can ease the tension... but when the pigskin-tossing is interrupted by a formidable invader, bad vibes must be cast aside in the name of justice! Can a troubled and uncoordinated team stand a chance against... GOROX THE VANQUISHER? Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

We're back in the present day of Masks, and what a day it is! After the close calls and crossed lines of the last block, our young heroes have briefly parted ways to pursue their own goals. Luke tries out a new perspective with new presentation, Pate reaches out rather than lashing out, Pipa wrangles an overbearing ally, and Juno fights for her independence! Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

In the second half of our Scarlet Macaw continuity deep-dive, we see how his early life of vigilantism on Cathedral Street quickly escalated when his do-gooding earned him the wrath of an established criminal enterprise! When the mob's boss learns too much about his secret identity and starts hitting where it hurts, our hero will have to make some shadowy allies and learn what it means to truly embody his own ideals. To learn more... See Issue X! Note: Levi had some unexpected audio hardware problems that we were not fully aware of until after recording. I apologize for this oversight, and have done my best to make their funny and clever dialog more legible. Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

We're back in Halcyon City... WAY BACK! Because it's time to explore the early career of one Scarlet Macaw, our modern-day heroes' masked caseworker and collective father figure. In order to simulate the tangled narrative thread that only decades of serial publication can create, we're using Chris Longhurst's journaling game See Issue X! Listen in to find out how our tired gay dad first entered the life of costumed vigilantism! https://potatocubed.itch.io/see-issue-x Music by Perennial Sounds LLC

With the first act behind them, it seems as if our hapless heroes have no means of fending off the giant irradiated centipede... granted, punching it seems to work pretty well as a stopgap, but we need long-term solutions and not everyone is as ripped as Biff Jackson! Who, if anyone, can survive if the monster is allowed to rampage unchecked? Watch on to find out... if you dare! Also, just for the record, we didn't know the Stray Cats were an actual band when we recorded this. Content warning for character death and a brief hypothetical gag about infants and pesticides. Music is Spook5 by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySANjE2HEfc under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

It's The Revenge of Die Laughing! Elliot returns with Saturn, Levi, Owen, and Sara to explore a new side of horror-comedy: the kind that isn't intentionally comedic but was made on a shoestring budget in 1953 and is thus the funniest thing imaginable. When a giant irradiated insect stalks down the main street of a small town, can a gaggle of townsfolk band together and survive? Or will they just scream at the camera as an unconvincing prop looms over them? Music is Spook5 by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySANjE2HEfc under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With their latest mission gone horribly south and resolved as well as they can hope for, the Forget-Me-Nots prepare to cut their losses and live to negotiate another day. However, one of their number has had a change of plans: Giuseppe "Golden Boy" Finch, having met a mysterious woman with a shocking amount in common with him, seems to have a chance at knowledge and revenge that simply climbing the ladder at Royal Blue could not afford him. Will he follow through with this plan, and will he survive to do it? And can his still-loyal squad mates do anything to change what happens next? Find out in the thrilling conclusion to this block of Beam Saber with the Big Gay Nerds! Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With the situation at the Ironbreaker Mechforge reaching a volatile head, the Forget-Me-Nots must pull out all the stops to get out alive, let alone succeed in their mission! Will getting messy pay off, or just get them in deeper trouble? Arabella makes a big distraction, Gabrielle goes for the throat, Pfeffer plays his trump card, and Guiseppe... has a talk and makes a decision. Content warning for gun violence, digit loss, and a large explosion. Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As the Forget-Me-Nots once again find their party split and the circumstances desperate, only quick thinking can save the day. Incidentally, remember that time Pfeffer managed to fast-talk his way past a whole squad of mechs? Good times, good times. Not mentioning this for any reason, just... nostalgic. Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With pre-mission prep behind them, the Forget-Me-Nots must choose a plan of "attack" for their diplomatic mission with a potentially dangerous and duplicitous labor strike. As they deploy, once again splitting the party, it quickly becomes apparent that a risky situation is even more so than expected. In the process, we get a pretty good example of how just a handful of rolls and a few points of Stress can really define a mission in Forged in the Dark games. Hope that's ominous enough for ya! Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Forget-Me-Nots have a new mission... and it's a delicate one! A labor strike has struck at the chief Tychonian mech factory, and they seem more focused on arming themselves than negotiating terms. Will our robot-riding diplomats be able to diffuse the situation? Maybe if their do their homework! Pfeffer and Arabella both meet up with old acquaintances (with varying results), Gabrielle goes snooping as usual, and Guiseppe does some tactical bar-diving. Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With their mission completed, our newly Tier One heroes return home to recuperate and make the most of their time. However, they'll soon learn that their victory has earned them more trouble than expected, and the threat of retaliation now hangs over the Humboldt estate... Meanwhile, Arabella rolls up her sleeves, Gabrielle gets a hand, Giuseppe turns on the charm, and Pfeffer buys dinner. Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The orbital auction reaches its second, extra-juicy half as the Forget-Me-Nots find themselves in a tight spot, with half their members in a perilous (but lucrative) situation and a quarter of their members getting actively whaled on. But they have money in the bank and an idea of where to put it... the question is, can they outsmart their competition without breaking the bank or missing golden opportunities? Find out in the conclusion to our latest Beam Saber mission! Music is TaishoRoman_Battle by Peritune www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-LuS7oVHY under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/