Join us on the other side of the mirror for Afterschool Wonderland!
A thrilling all-ages Actual Play podcast featuring three kids and their monster companions in the bizarre and enchanting City Spectacular!
Afterschool Wonderland is a planned 13-episode family-friendly Actual Play podcast taking place in Zak Barouh’s Animon Story! Our focus is on providing professional production value and performance, and on paying our cast and crew well. In addition, the cast and crew will put together a zine supplement for Animon Story so that backers can use the various creatures and concepts in the podcast at their own game table.
A Zine and a Podcast
By pairing a podcast with a supplement (under the Animon Story Creators’ League license), we want to create an exciting and wonderful world and then give listeners the material they need to take their own Animon Story games into our world!
Afterschool Wonderland takes place in The City Spectacular, a mysterious world that’s part Victorian London and part circus, populated by mysterious and charming creatures called Animon. The Mayor is a wasp-fellow in a waistcoat and tails called Stingmaster, who impresses crowds from City Hall, which is also the Big Top. The world is surreal and fun, a little silly and extremely bombastic, full of big personalities.
The cast and crew will be designing and writing stat blocks for the Animon that appear in the story and releasing those in the zine so players can meet them too!
(From left to right: Misha Thuy, played by Jordan, Alexis Okafor-Bell, played by Mike, and Syd Carson, played by Gnome)
Family Actual Play
We feel like there aren’t enough family-friendly podcasts, let along Actual Play podcasts. The field of Actual Play tends toward intense stories, and while there’s nothing wrong with those (Our previous project, Roar to Heaven, was certainly a lot), there’s space in the medium for shows people can enjoy together with little ones.
Because Animon Story is inspired by kids’ media, we wanted this podcast to be accessible to families, so young listeners can imagine their own Animon partners and their own adventures in the City Spectacular.
(Fraydi, Syd’s animon partner)
(Stovepip, a villainous little henchman Animon and a dreadful little criminal)
Cast & Crew
Jordan Cuddlefish (She/They)
PERFORMER
Jordan is an entity engaging with TTRPGs in all forms in the past decade, from larping, GMing, design, and actual play series, from Roar to Heaven, Don't Cast Don't Tell, Infinity City, and stream appearances. Jordan can be found haunting malls and hunting for nummy bites and invisible monsters. She secretly watches CW network dramas and shounen anime every day.
Strengths: Plot armor, knows more than Cat about Digimon
Weaknesses: Afraid of monkeys, overestimates both strengths
Gnome (They/Them)
PERFORMER
Gnome is a GM and player of seven years who has featured in two parts of the anthology Lancer AP podcast The Deimos Paradox (Vesper in Ghosts of Asura-9 and Dragonslayer in Amnesia). Gnome has loved the “monster taming” genre for as long as they can remember, with Digimon holding a special place in their heart. Animon Story is one of their favorite games to GM and they look forward to a rare chance to play.
Strengths: Encyclopedic knowlege of Digimon
Weaknesses: Won't stop talking about how cool Digimon is
Mike Pardue (They/Them)
PERFORMER
A mysterious but incredibly pleasant stranger hailing from somewhere, here to do something. No evidence exists of Mike but you gotta believe in something to get through the day, right?
Strengths: Very polite, knows more than Cat about Digimon
Weaknesses: None that they have encountered thus far.
Cat McDonald (They/Them)
PRODUCER - GAME MASTER - EDITOR
Cat is an award-winning Game Master (Best Game Master in an Actual Play Podcast, New Jersey Web Festival 2022, Best Actual Play Not Playing D&D, New Jersey Web Festival 2021 for Sword of Symphonies) and game designer. Life in the unforgiving Edmonton cold has forged them into a roleplaying machine built to excel at several types of safe, warm, indoor entertainment, including roleplaying games, writing, calligraphy, and watercolor paintings of Pokemon.
Strengths: Raw Animal Ambition fuelled by Aikatsu.
Weaknesses: There are too many Digimon and they get scared.
Kathleen Childs (She/Her)
PRODUCER - SOUND DESIGNER - EDITOR - COMPOSER
Kathleen is an award-winning composer (2023 New Jersey Webfest, Sword of Symphones) and podcaster (2021 New Jersey Webfest, Sword of Symphonies). She likes guitars, cooking, and weird fiction. While she is often comically non-judgmental, Kathleen decides who said things that are good and/or bad enough for you to hear.
Strengths: Has a side evolution to a big bird with guns all over it
Weaknesses: 4x weak to lightning
Nick Acheff (He/Him)
ARTIST
Nick met Cat and Kathleen in the wild west days of the internet doing a stream about bad webcomics. He has been besties with them ever since. Nick likes robots, cats, cartoons, bugs, cooking, and playing little gremlins in TTRPGs - but not necessarily in that order. He provides art for the show!
Strengths: Watched Digimon a few times as a kid in the 90s
Weaknesses: Only knows about modern Digimon through youtube