Us Again

Making keen happen (Empire 2025, Part 4)

How do we get motivated for Empire after all these years? How do you pivot when something is getting stale? What else is there for us to experience? And will Sol remember to say hello? 
 
All this and more, as we talk through motivation, keen, character arcs and changes, and try and dig into the question of ‘what if you aren’t excited anymore?’ to come up with some ideas, thoughts, and maybe even an answer or two in there somewhere.

The Secrets We Keep by Chaos League (spoiler free!)

It’s Us Again, but for the first time ever, we’re talking about a larp only ONE of us has been to 👀
Prepare yourselves for a glimpse into ‘The Secrets We Keep’, a ‘grim, intimate psychological narration’ run by Chaos League in Italy, that Mattie has attended both as a Player and NPC (larp addiction is incurable unfortunately). There will be no spoilers of the game itself - instead we dive a little into the mechanics and expectations of this experience and nerd out about larp design, with only a few hot takes 🤫 (because we just can’t help ourselves, and because that’s what you’re really here for, isn’t it?)
Want to find out whether this style of larp is for you? Wondering if you, too, should take the leap into the International larp scene? Listen and find out! 
(The answer is almost certainly yes)

We got the wholesome ending (Empire 2025, Part 3)

…and that’s a wrap on Empire E1! From family drama and heartfelt gestures; via bad parenting and panic attacks; through trials and tribulations; love and hugs, we somehow got the wholesome ending?! 
Hopefully you can learn a little something from our debriefing, whether that’s how to best engage in cool story arcs or how to go too deep and give it ALL. THE. BEANS.
Thanks for listening to Us Again <3

The One With All The Context (Empire 2025, Part 2)

Mattie and Sol are back from Empire and boy howdy are we frothing about it. However, before we can get into the meat and potatoes of E1 2025’s narrative feast, we have to go back. Waaaay back. Back to... Well only to last event, actually.
Welcome to Post-Larp: The Prequel; The One With All The Context.
Yes, that’s right - it’s a surprise Empire E4 2024 episode! Strap in, grab a cuppa, and get listening...
 

Why we’re crewing Menhirs Fate (and you could too!)

Us? Again?! Well what can we say, this week we wanted to ruminate on all our prior crewing experiences, why we’ve chosen to crew Menhirs Fate, and just what the heck being crew for a larp means, anyway. Hopefully we can give you a glimpse behind the curtain, over the hedge, backstage, and maybe even convince you to go crew a larp yourself. 👀
If you find yourself motivated by our enthusiastic rambling to join the MF crew team, you can apply at https://www.menhirsfate.com/volunteer-application/, or go to the Menhirs Fate website to purchase a player ticket for the upcoming event and let us run you the best larp game of your life!*
*Vera says we have to legally clarify it might not be your whole entire life, but Vera is a party pooper and the reviews for event one speak for themselves. Guess you’ll just have to come along and see…

How did we get here...? (Empire 2025, Part 1)

Yes, it’s that time again - Empire is back, baby! After many years playing the game, join us for a lovely little chinwag about what we look forward to; what we might get up to; and how we manage to keep enjoying this ongoing story in fun new ways…

Hello, it's us again! (Intro episode)

Hello, it’s us again! A warm welcome to our chatty larp podcast. We thought it best to provide some introductions to the people behind the voices, Mattie & Sol, some of their background in Larp (Live Action Role Playing), the hobby we love to talk about, and some hints at what you can expect from episodes to come!
So wherever you are listening from, stay tuned, and enjoy! Us & Vera cannot wait to have you along for the ride…

Our final stand (Flying Lead: Lawless, Part 4)

Hey there! Glad to have you back with us again for the final instalment of our love letter to Lawless, the incredible Flying Lead oneshot run by EYELARP in March 2025. Listen along as we cover the tragic and memorable ending to this narrative, and offer some analysis and closing thoughts about the game as a whole. Things take a turn for the serious in this one, as the walls close in and the players reap the consequences of all they have sown. After all; if you burn all the bridges, eventually you end up trapped with nowhere to go…
Please be aware that this episode contains discussions of police brutality, death of non-combatants, and character death, beginning at 28:30. These topics are covered in a narrative way, focusing on the larp experience rather than the reality or real-world parallels. Listen with caution. 
Series content warnings: suicide; police brutality; guns and gun violence; physical violence; torture; PTSD; and death, including death of innocents and non-combatants.

Always gonna die in Redwater (Flying Lead: Lawless, Part 3)

Missed us? We're back with the third episode of our retrospective discussion of Flying Lead: Lawless, a game run by EYELARP in March 2025. Following on from last time, we finally cover the second half of Saturday. You're in for a treat as the situation keeps getting worse for our poor residents of Redwater... Prepare for tense negotiations, betrayals of trust, dramatic plot twists and a surprise moonshine-making Babushka. Please be aware that this episode contains discussions of suicide and physical violence. These topics are covered in a narrative way, focusing on the larp experience rather than the reality of either. Listen with caution. (1:14:45 onwards)Series content warnings: suicide; police brutality; guns and gun violence; physical violence; torture; PTSD; and death, including death of innocents and non-combatants.

We're going on a bear hunt (Flying Lead: Lawless, Part 2)

Join us again today as we continue recounting our time at Flying Lead: Lawless, a game run by EYELARP in March 2025. This time we make a vain attempt to tackle the behemoth of a narrative experience that was Saturday all in one go (and fail miserably). Featuring bears and rats and gangsters, oh my! We'll cover such interesting topics as 'how to be inconspicuous', 'what is a still, anyway?', and 'is Joey okay? No, really... is Joey okay??'
Vera doesn't think so.
Contains references to and discussions of: suicide; police brutality; guns and gun violence; torture; PTSD; and death, including death of innocents and non-combatants.