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Summary
PixelCircusis pack devotee back to Y2 K with their all - unexampled four - part series , Sunday Spy Club . Sunday Spy Clubfollows a group of friends who are part of the undercover agent club at their college , but things take a turn when they are thrown into the dangerous world of real espionage . With only their wits and friendship to keep them safe these four young woman will do whatever it takes to protect their friends .
base on beloved femaleespionage seriesTotally Spies!andCharlies Angels , Sunday Spy Clubhits the nostalgia of the other 2000s with a hilarious roll of character . Mayanna Berrin dish up as the Spy Master with Saige Ryan playing Summer , Krystina Arielle as Tinsley , Mica Burton as Astoria , and Becca Scott as Malware . The chemistry jump off from the screen with the actual friendly relationship these hilarious and clever players have smoothen through with their characters . Each role brings their own skills with the player and Spy Master bring their own spin to this , perilous narration culminating in an action - pack , fun - filled adventure .
Here ’s everything you need to know about Dimension 20 , the factual play serial publication on Dimension 20 that turn D&D into a hilarious comedy anthology .
Screen Rantinterviewed Krystina Arielle , Saige Ryan , and Mayanna Berrin about the new PixelCircus actual play seriesSunday Spy Club . Ryan excuse what beyondTotally Spies!andCharlies Angelsinspired the central story and populace of this actual gambol . Arielle discussed the grandness of digest autonomous studios and shared insight into the role . Berrin broke down the dynamic at the mesa and the importance of portray different elements of female friendly relationship .
Sunday Spy Club Recalls “Something Incredibly Special About Media Of The Early 2000s That Depicted Female Friendships”
Ryan revealed what inspire theTotally Spies!style actual play adventureSunday Spy Club . She portion out how they wanted to lean into the nostalgia of the Y2 K epoch of female friendly relationship and why this was the dream cast for this story . Ryan also shared how she institute Berrin in as the GM .
Saige Ryan : I have a note app listing of game approximation in my phone and I tend to just tally to it as we go and add small name of people that I think would be fun with it . I literally had write down Totally Spies ! D&D basically , and it was very much set in that . found on unquestionably Charlie ’s Angels , Totally Spies ! When working through the overall construct for it , the inspo points were really powerfully on Y2 K girlhood .
One of the themes that we really jazz to explore is chance for different type of human relationship between cleaning woman . I mean there is something unbelievably special about culture medium of the early 2000s that depicted female friendships in such a special agency . possibly that ’s my nostalgia talk and there ’s probably so much media still doing that for kids and that ’s just when I was a kid .
Mayanna Berrin : Like Owl House now I think . Yeah , there ’s a new crop of it for certain .
Saige Ryan : Yeah , and I commend Mayanna and I had model down a couple of time to babble out about it and I had talk about wanting to have Mayanna come and GM something on the groove . I think she ’s such a brilliant performer and talented creative and the incredibly extra combo of being a writer and a performer that make for really brilliant GMing . We did some trial games together and then I was like , Hey , so I ’ve come this concept and it ’s very informal and it ’s really intemperately literary genre . Because we love to play in literary genre and then I want to just see what Mayanna would do with that .
Mayanna Berrin : It was very fun . I got to ladder away with it . It was capital .
Ryan range PixelCircus and is the one who came up with both the cast and concept forSunday Spy Club . She die down her mental process of brainstorming configurations for unlike shows while allowing the GM room to make the world and story their own . This also give Ryan a chance to not only play in the world she wants to explore , but still be surprise by the decisions made by the GM .
Saige Ryan : Concept heady , honestly for me as the individual who , I flow the channel itself , so it ’s like this is a world I desire to spiel in . This is a genre , this is a theme that I want to play in and something that I cogitate would serve our audience well . As the person who has been so close and unmediated with our consultation for so long , I finger very connected to them .
I literally campaign little censuses for them to put forward their interests and thing they ’re enjoy see . So it ’s still very much a surprise for me of what we ’re go to do in the news report . I really just deliver a setting to Myanna and was like , Hi , I would like you to make me a spy , please .
Mayanna Berrin : And then I die off and I create a story text file essentially of just , Where are they ? What do they want ? Who ’s a good foil for that and how can we put atmospheric pressure on these friendly relationship and see how they deal with upheaval and a new place ? They did with child . They jam it .
Sunday Spy Clubbegins with a peak into the future with audience able to see the fille working as skilled spies . However , the fib take after their journeying to becoming these top - nick shamus . Ryan and Berrin explained not only what animate this flash forward , but how they were able to utilize it and when they shoot this opening night sequence .
Saige Ryan : We talk about this together and one of the matter was the first installment is so authoritative . We ’re a small sovereign channel and we ’re always seek , especially in light series , to receive Modern people into our community and we wanted to deliver on spies , but also reserve them to have a journeying to becoming spies . So we felt up like with a preview of it , that ’s something that flick get to do and we had the opportunity to be like , this is what we ’re assure you . Now you get to see the journey lead up to it without it being like , but the first installment of Sunday Spy Club is not spy . We wanted to deliver early on spies , but show you the whole journey as well .
Mayanna Berrin : Yeah , I think one of the things that we take for granted , especially in the fact that it was filmed , is that we can play with chronological order a piddling bit . you could take those convention and expend them to easily stand the story as you ’d like to , versus when you play something on stream , you ca n’t necessarily flashback and flash forward and do all those things . you could mess around with the RP of it , but actually getting to show something , we shot that last .
That was the last affair we fritter away , but you ’re see that first is very fun because one , all the eccentric are super locked in and they have go on this arc together . So for them as players , they have experienced the full length of the story and they ’re in their very coolheaded suits and we get to answer the promise of that , of this is who they will become . And then you just get to see the fun journey on how to get there . So super shudder and fun .
Sunday Spy Club Was “Very Healing And Restorative In Its Own Way Because There Were These Type Of Heightened Versions Of Ourselves”
Arielle share insight into her grapheme Tinsley as well as Burton and Scott ’s characters . She excuse what role each of these character reference fulfill in the group and revealed how each of the participant infused elements of themselves into the grapheme . She also touched on the teenager magazine that Ryan create to precede theSunday Spy Clubto fans .
Krystina Arielle : So I play Tinsley and Tinsley is an athlete . She ’s an overachiever . She take herself a picayune too seriously sometimes , but she ’s an unsafe little sinker hole and I love her . Amongst the mathematical group , everyone kind of bring their own minuscule dynamic to it . Saige ’s Summer , she is resourceful , she ’s the loss leader . You just kind of know that is her role , that ’s what she does . She maintain the phratry together and it ’s her .
All of these characters kind of feel like a fiddling bit of an annex of us , even with Mica and Astoria , Mica is take a brat summer her whole life , but she is an astonishing kind - hearted person and she ’s so layered much like you see with Astoria . That ’s the thing with all of these character reference , and I mean Becca ’s a genius . Becca Scott is an sheer genius . She ’s a full on delectation . There is a reason so many people got Malware . Saige put together a teen magazine publisher in the vein of the two thousands Jade magazines and all those teen magazines , Teen Beat , and Tiger Beat .
Mayanna Berrin : I was a 17 girly .
Krystina Arielle : Oh listen , 17 , Cosmo Girl . It was truly a golden era . So she created this magazine and it has the test and people were like , I arrest Malware . There were so many Malwares because she is a relatable dork and it ’s great . There ’s just so much , we toy off each other well because in the same sense that we ’re telling this fib together , it was such a great soldering experience for all of us .
Kind of very healing and reviving in its own way because there were these type of heightened versions of ourselves . You have this mathematical group of woman encourage you to be the best version of yourself in game and out of game as well . So it feels very , very special to me , and I hope people truly revel it .
Mayanna Berrin : I think one of the themes that I start to see develop amongst the four of you was how close - knit distaff friendships can sometimes keep you from grow . And then when you receipt that , help you to support that next evolution of who you could become . It ’s like letting go , but not too much . It was very , very fun to see you guy all boost each other in those unlike ways .
Ryan shared the grandness of their session zero in creating the moral force forSunday Spy Club . Especially because it was n’t cover as a traditional session zero , but or else a sleepover with the form spending fourth dimension together to reconnect as protagonist , while also developing their characters , backstories , and the friendly relationship that they have .
Saige Ryan : My preferent thing to severalize people about is our academic session zero . I will stop people on the street at this point to be like , this was the most wonderful night of TTRPG of my life . We organized a academic term zero where we take the Seth and we clean everything out and we rolled a telecasting in and we put out big pillows and blanket and we had the equivalent of a picayune sleep party where we progress our characters together and we built the human relationship .
I would say 80 % of our school term zero was just us all talking and bonding and reconnecting . When you ’re all coworkers or certain level of , we see each other all the fourth dimension , but there was such an quick and personal connecter between everybody that when we got to the character construction , it was so wanton just free-base on the conversations we ’ve been take . We ’d been observe Totally Spies and catch some inspo patch and verbalise about DEBS and talking about all the different reference pieces that we had .
It come together so of course , and this was the group of people that have been sitting on a little lurch deck of cards that I had for myself for almost a year of my dreamcast . These were all booster and people that I get it on in the industry , and I was just like , if we can make this happen , if we can line up everybody ’s agenda , I just knew that this mathematical group of women would tell exactly the news report that we were dreaming of . I ’m so , so thankful . I was sitting there see it and I ’m watching everybody and I ’m like , It ’s just like it was in my chief . It ’s real . Oh my God .
Everyone was just so committed and so receptive . It was so beautiful and so healing as woman in this space , I retrieve , to just be authentically beleaguer by wonderful , supportive women and playing theatrical role that I do n’t think I have ever play with a radical of people , a grouping of case that decide that they love each other so freak out much . I think that ’s so foundational to this show is these lady friend rightfully and truly love each other and all different eccentric of love .
Berrin further explained how exploring female friendships is at the centre of Sunday Spy Club . While they can be supportive , the literal play also shows how it can be constricting to have the same friend for so many years in one ’s life . This can evolve into an even stronger bond with elbow room for growth and change or devolve into a desire to hold onto the past without appropriate for change .
Mayanna Berrin : In episode two , and I wo n’t say the plot of land things for spoilers , whatever , but one of the things you start to describe is a fiddling bit more of the backstory , which I believe they come up with on the fly . How they ’ve all bed each other and what secret they were keep from each other and things that they felt well-heeled communion with the group versus things that they wanted to keep to themselves .
How once those revelations find , how they can well support each other and not even realizing peradventure , because I intend when you get locked into a moral force , especially with friends you ’ve have it off for a long clip , you start to take for granted that they ’re never move to change in any meaningful manner . So when you start out to see that you may have two reaction to that , which is you require to keep them the direction that you live them to be because change is scary or you allow them the space to change into the person that mayhap they were always meant to become . And you get to be the individual there to witness that and to continue to plunk for that in a new way . peradventure the friendship changes , but that does n’t mean it ’s high-risk .
Saige Ryan : Krystina in reality established a lot of how long we had known each other , and that ’s kind of the trustfulness we had at the board is there was a import where it was like , How did you all receive ? And we had determine we have known each other our whole lives , and that was definitely something we eff , but Krystina , in a really fantastic import of improv put together , I feel like something where we were all like , Yes , that ’s exactly it .
Krystina Arielle : What I think is also very interesting about it is when you have a group of acquaintance , I lie with I have my champion group Quad goals , there ’s four of us , and sometimes at dissimilar point in the friendship , you have your person who ’s this individual . Kind of like how you clinging to each other within a group of women . You may have someone you tell a mystery to more and I think the couches kind give it away a little spot and how the dynamic end up . I thought that was really limited to go into female relationships in that elbow room and to just see how we support each other , who we go to when we have an emergency brake moment or we have something , who ’s the first somebody you turn to ? Who ’s the mortal you cling to ? I consider that ’s very honest in what amount from our story .
There ’s so much love in this story , the love life that we have for one another exterior and inside I think shines and you see so much of that comradeliness from the photograph shoots . I ’m having so much fun watch over all of the behind the scenes clobber roll out and seeing how much people are excited about it and how it ’s touching something in people that cue them of a time where your biggest issue is whether you were going to wear out Birkenstocks or Timberlands . If you had two Abercrombie shirt you could pop a neckband on . We have butterfly clips . That ’s very important
Saige Ryan : Lots of butterfly stroke magazine . I imagine it touches those kind of things that I ’m very nostalgic for , like Buffy The Vampire Slayer where it ’s like , Yeah , sure there ’s monsters attacking , but those trouble are n’t bigger than your human problem . There was always that kind of equilibrium of it where their personal human relationship is never less important than saving the world . They balance ‘em really well .
Sunday Spy Club “Is Richer Because Of The Different Experiences And Lifestyles Reflected At The Table”
Arielle explain not only why she enjoys playing at an all - femme board , but why she know this was the sodding table to play at . She broke down the importance of variety in storytelling and storyteller to makeSunday Spy Clubfeel true to her own friendships .
Krystina Arielle : I love a good all female mesa . It ’s also very important to me , I know that citizenry seek to use diverseness as a dirty word , but it ’s not . I think that our story is racy because of the different experiences and lifestyles think over at the board even to have three cleaning woman of color in this space . But we ’re all very different multitude . We all descend from very different spaces . I mean , Mica ’s a Hollywood girl , I ’m from the South .
Mayanna Berrin : I ’m from New York .
Krystina Arielle : We fix all these different places and personality character represent . I cogitate that we get to see the layers of all of our unlike feminine personalities and how those issue forth across . I call up it ’s important to just have a table that looks like my champion group in real sprightliness . That looks like the people that I bang that are the hoi polloi that I love .
There was something about this table that just I was in . I usually waffle a picayune bite , but sometimes my catgut is like , Krystina , this is the matter that you should do . This was one of those affair where now I was so take out to it . Then I heard who was act and I was like , I want to flow out with all these people and we are always so busy . So you ’re telling me that you ’re going to put me in a studio and I ’m choke to get to attend out with my friends , roleplay a secret plan , tell apart a account and go just have this beautiful adventure .
It ’s always about that for me . It ’s always about being with the great unwashed that I want to be with , being with people who bear on my heart . Where I know I ’m go to leave this table , I ’m proceed to leave this story , I ’m plump to entrust this experience intuitive feeling fix , feel as if it was n’t work . It was an adventure and this was truly an adventure for me .
The cast also shared what surprised them in this plot . While Berrin discussed the importance of allowing players to take the star in storytelling as a GM so as to be collaborative , Ryan break how the cast organically craft the relationship between each of the case . Some of this was due to their existing friendly relationship , but other facial expression came from moment of improvisation that perfectly fall into place for the narrative .
Mayanna Berrin : I conceive one of the things , you take heed this all the time , I cerebrate with people who want to get into GMing of write a book . It ’s like if you want a account to go the precise way that you force it up , do n’t make it a TTRPG , do n’t do it . Do n’t open up yourself up to that . Collaborative storytelling is different . You ’re wind a tapestry with four other people who are contributing to this matter . So I think I was constantly surprised and always blown aside by the creativity and the ingenuity that everybody contribute . Krystina had so many incredible line . Mica did as well , Becca as well , Saige as well . It was funny .
I think there ’s how do you prep for an actual play ? How do you prep for a D&D plot ? I think there ’s unlike reply depending on if it ’s on camera or not . I recollect that over prepare , but then leave yourself open to the blank because the players are going to bring thing that are going to be immeasurably better than what you assumed was the comfortably potential thought you could have . So yeah , I would think I was surprised every consequence . I was just like , Wow , these people are glorious . I do n’t fuck . This is mad .
Saige Ryan : I think that I was most surprised by how the relationships came together . We as a channel are really passionate about separate feminine relationship and a passel of the sort of basis of the stories that we want to tell are base on what is a new eccentric of dynamic that maybe feels like we do n’t get a opportunity to see spaces where woman get to expend time together , alone . space where the unlike types of sexual love get to be shown .
I think I was surprise by the beautiful silliness between us all . I think that we retrograde truly and honestly in such a healing way where there were contiguous things of inside joke between these character reference and it felt like we had known each other since we were yearling , like the story . There is such a silliness between these missy that is my favourite part coda of watching it back .
Mayanna Berrin : There ’s a moment in the finale where it get to a level where I was like , This is high school . Literally , I ’ve been transported .
Saige Ryan : I think that Krystina sum it up so well , honestly . And I have a clip of you saying this . There ’s that TikTok course going around that ’s like when you get kidnapped with your best friends and it ’s just the two people express joy in a basement and they ca n’t stop laughing about it . I think that the character reference that we build are so unserious .
Mayanna Berrin : It was very funny ,
Saige Ryan : In such a fun , high stakes world , and we did n’t plan for that . It just occur .
Krystina Arielle : When you get a moment to just talk to another character reference and there ’s no competition , there ’s no anything , there ’s just , we ’re hanging out with our champion and you know how somebody says something or trips over a Holy Scripture and then you ca n’t stop consider about it , and every time you make eye contact . That ’s it . Every time we made eye contact , we had to stop because-
Saige Ryan : We did actually take a intermission at one point . We hold film because we could n’t discontinue laughing .
Krystina Arielle : I opine we broke Mayanna .
Mayanna Berrin : Yeah , by the end of the shoot it was like , Wow , I do n’t do it how we bring here . There ’s a part in , I recollect it ’s two again , where Mica just goes off on a soliloquy that she riffed on the fly that is so amusing . That I had to be like , You know what ? I think this scene ’s over now we have to do something else because I ’m not even snuff it to have you undulate for that . You just get to do that because that was very funny .
Krystina Arielle : You just realize how funny your friends are , man . There ’s no scripts , there ’s no nothing . There ’s just chaos .
Mayanna Berrin : It devolved , but in a way that I was like , This is how it was always signify to be . This is how it ’s supposed to go .
Krystina Arielle : It ’s astonishing . I love it so much . I have n’t even seen it yet and I do n’t remember half the stuff I said , but I fuck that watching it back , it ’s work to take back this intuitive feeling of just absolute joy that I still feel just thinking about it .
Mayanna Berrin : Oh yeah , Krystina has a Twilight character reference that she makes off the manacle . That was so delicious and titillate me so much .
Krystina Arielle : heed , Twihard for life .
Mayanna Berrin : Twihard for life . on the dot . We bring so much of ourselves to these characters
Krystina Arielle : So much .
Krystina Arielle On The Importance Of Independent Studios “We Have To Make Sure That Those Are The Things that Succeed.”
Ryan also broke down the production aspects admit what inspired the brilliantly colourize solidifying , the unlike layout with couches instead of a table , and what inspired them to change costumes for every episode . Arielle discuss the grandness of supporting independent studio like PixelCircus in creating exciting , passion - drive stories .
Saige Ryan : Once again , I ’ll never bar reference that so much of this show comes from a Pinterest display panel . I had three Pinterest boards for this show and I can not cast for the life of me . I have no artistic ability in that common sense . So I was there , replicate and pasting image and couches and trying to explain to Clara , our set graphic designer , Hey , like this . Can it depend like this ? But good . She really did take the picture I made and make it good .
Everything was custom . We shoot in our own studio , we have our own studio apartment in LA , the channel , and this is a completely unlike frame-up . We tore apart our studio and amply kind of rebuilt our stagecoach for it . It was fantastically thought-provoking and beautiful and we played with so many different approximation of just what represents that . The hardening is based on what is the cool teen dreaming hideout of , it ’s almost like your dreaming stripling bedroom . It ’s like your first apartment . It is the cool undercover agent hideout . Very entirely Spies !
Mayanna Berrin : Your freshman student residence .
Saige Ryan : Yeah , what you wish your freshman dormitory looked like if you had nerveless secret government money , spy . We spend so long literally play with color palettes and how the suits would pop off of everything and how the girls are in basically primary colors while there is a different color palette to the screen background to ensure that they would stand out off of it . It was a very , very heedful process . Spy suits were just a must . We had to .
We in reality change fit every instalment that was also very crucial to us . This is very cartoon ground and so many RPGs , especially when you block shoot , you ’re have on the same rig for the whole affair . We order , literally , I was just getting bundle of Y2 K outfits in color blocking for two unbowed weeks at my house , and then we essentially just made a big sight of wearing apparel of each color and let the girls pick out sort of what precious Y2 K rig they want to wear that mean solar day . For that instalment .
Mayanna Berrin : I was obsessed with Krystina ’s one she wore for the photograph shoot . That immature with the white is so cute and the khaki skirt .
Krystina Arielle : I desire that top so bad . I have sex that shirt . Do not undersell it . Saige put this thing on and I want to give a very loud , loud shout out to PixelCircus and the work that she does there . It is an independent studio , but she scat a tight ship . Everything is made to ensure you feel encouraged , ensure you feel underpin , ensure you have the things that you need . We ’re not running around like , I do n’t have the budget to go buy a fresh outfit or do this . All of those things were rent care of .
She put so much consideration into the aim of the band . I still imagine about that set . I look at pictures from my photographic camera from that clip and I ’m just like , This is one of the cool set I ’ve ever been on . Because it feels like somewhere I ’d desire to be . She just created this environs and this team and pull us all together . Mayana is a mythic storyteller , one of the best GMs I have ever played with . It ’s really exciting to see what they were able-bodied to put together to just be a part of this .
We have to back up independent studios . We have to ensure that those are the things that bring home the bacon and autonomous undertaking like this , where mass are state , this is what I want to see . This is what I want to see . If you desire to see it , support it . These are multitude who deserve to be support because they put their whole centre into this . I ’m exceptionally majestic to be on the ride with them .
Saige Ryan : The set itself is , it ’s fun and a dream to build . We ’ve built so many tavern and dungeons . It is an unbelievable escape to build bright and colorful things . It ’s a look that I do n’t finger like we see a lot of and encompass muliebrity in D&D. It ’s fun to be in . It wreak a sure energy in the room .
Mayanna Berrin : It was super felicitous and warm . Y’all spoiled me with that blue tri lot affair and I did n’t even get to see it . It was behind me . But now I ’m seeing it and I ’m like , that matter look so sick .
Krystina Arielle : The spinning dice stack .
Mayanna Berrin : Oh , the spinning dice stack . Love the spinning affair .
Krystina Arielle : You have to look close . Mayanna ’s setup is so dope and it ’s just to see so much unembarrassed [ muliebrity ] . I used to sell railway car at one full point in my life and one of my big thing that was important to me was having a pink authority , having a very girly office because it does n’t take away anything . Our femininity does n’t take away our ability , what we ’re capable of . It enrich it . Our experiences as women , those things that we ’ve been through , they make our tale richer . They make our lives racy . It ’s nice . It is a true reflection of such unabashed girl joy and individual joy . It ’s just jubilant . I desire that when masses leave it , they feel happy .
Saige Ryan : For setting on it , Clara Goldstein and I were literally hand ignore and painting pieces of foam all in our little studio apartment . The intact curing is hand-crafted .
Mayanna Berrin : To the day that we shot . They were work tirelessly .
Saige Ryan : We ’re a very , very , very small squad , but everything is just like , well , we could probably compute it out . you’re able to make almost anything out of froth .
About PixelCircus: Sunday Spy Club
Totally Spies meets Charlie ’s Angels for an epic tale of subterfuge and mystery . As the members of the college undercover agent club are stuff into the perilous region of real espionage , they must rely on their confidence for each other to see it through .
PixelCircus : Sunday Spy Clubpremieres on thePixelCircus YouTube channelJuly 21 .
