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Thank you for the thoughtful reflections and feedback! It's really lovely to hear how the tone/structure of the game feels for others, especially since being both intense and hopeful is a lot of where I hoped it would land.

Party Prep: Yes, all the party prep moves happen before each party! The players give each new party a type, a complication, and at least one guest, and the protagonist has a brief coping interlude before starting the party scene.

The Palette: It's definitely allowed/encouraged to talk through what an element on the Palette means, especially if it feels unclear or anyone in the group is concerned about how it might manifest in play, and a yes could still be vetoed by other players. I realize that the way I have it written could lead to the feeling that if someone already added a theme as a "yes," another player can't change it or modify it with a "no" - that's something I'll work to clarify the next time I revise this for print, thank you for pointing out how it read to you.

Part of the point of adding yeses and nos in varied sequence is that sometimes ideas for what might land in either column can arise from what lands in the other - if someone wants cafés to be a game location and suggests that in the "yes" column, that might prompt someone else to put "angry/confrontational customers" in the "no" column, for example, to refine the emerging possible theme in a way that'll still be comfortable for them. That's also why a "no" means something won't be in the game, but a "yes" only suggests it might be because at least one player would like it - yeses are still subject to the needs and comfort of the group.