The Esoteric Order of Roleplayers

[Monsterhearts] The Next Generation: Season Two, Episode 7

Our monsters are moving closer to their target! Main character energy abounds during this special session as Cora, Riley, and Autumn get their own interludes, and our intrepid players also get to play their NPCs double-time. And none for Lucien Lucians, bye! Back us on Patreon for lots of bonus content and an opportunity to game with members of the Order! https://www.patreon.com/esotericrp

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Featuring:David as "Autumn the Cerberus"Kenny as "Lucien the Vampire"Rainy as "Cora the Fae"Santiago as "Riley the Werewolf"

Duration:: 2h 57m
Broadcast on:: 23 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Featuring:
David as "Autumn the Cerberus"
Kenny as "Lucien the Vampire"
Rainy as "Cora the Fae"
Santiago as "Riley the Werewolf"

This episode of the Esoteric Order of Role Players is brought to you by the generosity of our backers on Patreon. Go to patreon.com/EsotericRP to find out how you can become a backer too. We create and broadcast these episodes live on native lands. We acknowledge these are unceded lands, with diverse communities maintaining connections to these places, and recognize their ancestors, their elders both past and present, and future generations. Learn more by visiting the Native American Rights Fund website at naf.org. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] The Esoteric Order of Role Players presents Monster Hearts, the next generation, featuring David, Rainey, Santiago, and Kenny as players with devs of the MC. [MUSIC] Episode 7, authorized personnel only at the back door if you want to be authorized, knock-knock. Content warning. Our season of Monster Hearts may include depictions and discussion of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, physical violence, and identity-based discrimination and harassment, as well as other activating topics. We encourage you to care for your safety and well-being while listening. So hello and welcome to our session of Monster Hearts. And today, are you selling something? I'm just darning socks, if it pleases you. No, I'm detangling a chain, so it just looks like I'm- >> Okay, it did look like that. >> We should all be learning these types of skills, because they may come in handy someday. So, as you can hear, as you can hear, we have Santi, David, and Rainey. >> Hello, hello, hello. >> And no Kenny, because there's just no Kenny's allowed at this session. No, he's just not available today, so we're gonna just- >> Yeah, once more, so I know all of you- >> I'm tired, I don't know if anyone missed that in the last episode. >> Yeah, and then we have to go back and listen to it if you missed it. >> Yeah, you have to listen really carefully, it's blink and you'll miss it, you know. >> No, that's not true, I just wanna say, you're not going nuts. >> Listen, he's sadly still alive as a vampire. >> Sadly. >> He did not go home to his home planet to wreak havoc there, but Kenny is not available today. So, but we're not here to talk about Kenny for once. We're here to talk about Monster Hearts, and we're here to play some Monster Hearts. So, we have a couple different ways that this session could go. And I'm curious what you all think, or if you have an idea of what might be fun. So, there was a discussion of doing an all-side characters session, where you all get to play your side characters. And then I was like, but we kind of need main characters to do that, I think, in some respects, maybe, unless I'm just not being creative about it. But I think it might be- >> I think literally you need people who can do moves, so yeah, that is true, that's true. >> So then the other part of it is David had an idea, I think it was David. Rainy, tell me if this is your idea when we were chatting, I don't know. But David, why are you shaking your head, David? >> Don't mean it. >> I'm just double-checking. All right, David had the brilliant idea, basically like, we'll play through a storyline or an episode, or what would you call it, chapter? >> An interlude? >> I guess, so it would be a three interlude session where you get to play your main character while the other two players are playing their side characters, and then I can supplement with other characters as needed. And then we would just play those out. David talked about having a timer and doing that kind of thing. >> Yeah, the idea is like for one hour each, so we have one hour with Cora, one hour with Riley, one hour with Autumn, and once the timer runs out, then we got to switch narratives. We got to switch somewhere else. >> Which I feel that's giving the timer to MC's job. I think I know when a chapter's played itself out, what do y'all think? >> I'm good at it with whatever. >> Okay. >> I mean, I don't know, must just be the werewolf in me, but I'm putting the timer and the other chains and stuff on it doesn't feel right, so, oh my God, and I don't know about that. >> Yeah, I also want to make sure everyone has equal time, so I think David, that's like the interest of making sure everybody has a spotlight time, okay? >> Although what you're saying also makes sense, like if something plays out, it plays out, you know, and if that takes a half hour, five, takes an hour and a half, that's fine, you know. >> Mm-hm, mm-hm. >> So. >> Yeah, I'm open to whatever the group consensus is, so if you think it'd be fun. >> But basically, the idea is each character gets their own little interlude. >> Right. >> And once that's done, the POV switches and everyone, it's like musical chairs, everyone's switches characters, the POV, the main character gets played, and then two side characters of your choosing does, I guess, or- >> No, like you're all playing only one side character. >> We're playing our usual- >> Your usual side characters, yeah. >> Okay, yeah. >> Unless you really want to play something else, but I think it would make it really confusing. >> Yeah. >> What do you think? >> Yeah, that's fine. >> Cuz like your side character's Dylan, and I could see that playing out with Cora and even Henry, I mean, I just like, I think there's also, the place where it can get a little more feral is like, we'll figure out why your character's there with them, right? >> Mm-hm. >> So like, they could be working on a group project or they could, you know, there's just other ways to kind of incorporate them, and I would like there to be two side characters and one main character playing in each interlude, which I thought that was a great way to describe it, so. >> Mm-hm. >> I mean, we're feeling open for that? >> Bad ideas, yeah, I like that idea. >> Yeah, okay, so, yeah, so let's draw, straws and see who's starting first, unless you feel like, I mean, we left on some pretty wild notes, so I think this is gonna be probably post whatever the fuck it was that happened after the play, closing night, so we're gonna still have to kind of go back and sort of, well, I don't know about that. There's gonna be some fallout, and we can always figure that out, you know? So this is definitely post that, and I think some of whatever's mentioned here might inform what ended up happening, since the majority of you are here, and Lucian's just gonna have to roll with the punches, so to speak. And so if you all wanna draw straws in terms of, just roll a D6 and we'll see who rolls highest or, or see who rolls lowest, I don't know what y'all wanna do. >> I mean, highest is traditional. >> Why? Okay, so let's. >> Five, ooh, is it four, okay, okay. So that's the order we'll go, so we'll go Cora, Riley, and Autumn. >> I think that's the order I outlined, so as those four told, yeah. >> When'd you outline that? >> In my hypothetical. >> Really? >> Five minutes ago, yeah. >> Oh, interesting, okay. So we will start with Cora, and so that means that we have Dylan, right? >> And Henry, so let me get some music, get some music going here. Okay, so Cora. >> Yes. >> You went through quite a bit last session, we traversed to the Faye Realm, and came back. And everybody knows a little bit more about you, or a lot more about you. >> Yep. >> Yep. >> So what's a place that Cora likes to spend time that's out in public? >> I mean, I think we've established, especially since hanging out with Dylan, that Cora's at Chars of Clay a bit more, but I also think that they like how it's a place that celebrates beautiful things, so I think Cora's into that. >> Okay. So it's after school, and again, it's about mid-May now. We're heading toward June, and the last day of school is looming on the horizon, but it is a beautiful May afternoon, and you are at Chars of Clay, and Dylan, what compels you to be at Chars of Clay? >> Well, I think it has to be one of these open mic nights, you know, there to perform. >> Okay. So it's the afternoon, so would it be like a rehearsal for that, or? >> No, I'm just hanging out until such time, you know. >> Oh, oh. Why don't you want to be at home? >> When I'm at home, I'm back to being Charles, I'm not Dylan anymore. >> Oh, I see, and what are the expectations for Charles? >> Charles is a responsible boy who always does his homework on time, and has to get into a good college, and all that kind of stuff, and is also the eldest sibling, so it gets made fun of a lot by his younger siblings. >> Yeah, tracks. What's your act for the open mic night? >> My act is an acoustic guitar, and I just do a rockabilly, inflected acoustic, you know, remember, like, straight cats, or not straight kids, straight cats. >> Clarification, yeah. >> Or some early Elvis or something. >> Okay. All right, so what have you noticed that has changed in you since you have started to interact with Cora more? >> What has changed in me? >> Cuz you connected with her when there was the whole scuffle during that detention, the detention situation where the second attack to me in the hallway. >> Yeah. >> Yes, yes. I do remember that. >> [LAUGH] >> So it's been a couple of weeks since that happened. >> Yeah, yeah. I think I've definitely developed a crush on Cora, and feel kind of like simultaneously protective towards her, but also like, I know she can take care of herself, right? So it's like, there's this kind of admiration as well. But it's like kind of a teenage fantasy thing of like, wow, she's such a bad ass. But sometimes bad ass is knee protection too, you know? >> Yeah, yeah, nice, okay, that's sweet. Okay, so Cora, what do you find interesting about Dylan in terms of keeping either tabs on him or legitimately liking him? >> I think Cora legit likes hanging out with Dylan because he's a creative. And then on the face side likes that, he's just this kind of sad kid trying to be his own person. So he has these vulnerabilities, which may or may not be useful at some point, but hanging out with Dylan is enjoyable, so it's not a drag or anything like that. >> Cuz he's a musician, he creates things, right? >> Mm-hm. >> It's actually pretty talented. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So Henry, what brings you to Jarza Clay this afternoon? >> Henry is studying- >> Nice. >> Coffee shop, a total cliche move at all. But a lot of people study there and people actually do study at coffee shops. >> I think the noise can be a helpful kind of help you kind of focus more, maybe. And there's coffee and snacks, like right there, you know what I mean? And a good coffee shop, especially when Jarza Clay has tons of really comfortable seating. So he's studying there because I wanna say it's towards the end of the semester. So his grades been slipping because he's been working at the family business and glom-bond to like Lucian Marcel trying to learn the business ropes so much, right? So he's done the thing where it's like, talk to the teachers. Can I get extra credit? And they're like, no, but you can get normal credit if you do like this work that you didn't hand in. >> Right. >> So try and play and catch up. >> Aww. >> Okay. >> With that study. >> All right. >> Maybe a little like writing like cuz he's had a few too many cups. >> Oh yeah, a little jittery. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so I'm wondering what rumors have you heard about Cora, about those types of people and maybe sharing some insights is cuz you're part of the Monster Squad, I think. I'm just calling them that. That's not your official name. It's Autumn's gang. >> I think that's a good snake, so you know. >> And the snakes, the snakes, all right. >> What's interesting about what Henry's been hearing is he has everything from the Monster Squad coming around all the Pepe Silvia type of red yarn connecting pictures and shit like that. >> Yeah. >> There that feeding him and he has the PR machine from his like Lucian contacts and just how they're diametrically opposed. >> Yeah. >> Because it makes it so interesting, right? Because they're completely different. >> Where do you think Henry's leaning in terms of who does he believe and who does he have more allegiance to right now? >> It's definitely trusting the Monster Squad. I wanna say it's like 90, 10, because the other one is strictly business, right? >> Yeah. >> And the one thing he's learned so far about business is that it is business with a capital B is cutthroat, it is ruthless, it is all about the bottom line, maximizing profits, maximizing efficiency. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Interesting. >> I think that you've heard about Quora that gets your antenna up a little bit when she walks into jars of clay this afternoon. >> Oh. >> And we'll get into the sartorial choices in just a moment, but yes. But what- >> Yeah, it'd be better because last session you were like, what's everyone wearing and then we got distracted and I was so mad afterwards. >> I'm so sorry. Y'all gotta keep me on track because people just start talking and I can start spinning the, spinning the yarn. First of all, what's Henry wearing and then I wanna know a rumor and then we'll get into what Quora's wearing and what Dylan is wearing. Henry, what are you wearing? What's your usual? >> Henry is wearing a quick bite, like polo, like that you wear, you don't really work there. >> Yeah. >> And over that, right? >> Yes. >> Is a new crescent of bay diamond backs hoodie, right? >> Nice, perfect. >> So he has that on over his work shirt and his undershirt underneath his work shirt. And then jeans, I wanna say just loose fit, light rinsed jeans, nothing fancy, probably from a gap because, you know, not quite as cheap as old Navy, but not as bougie as banana republic. >> Yeah. >> Right in the middle of it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And some vans, classic black vans, one white swoop down the side. >> I love it. >> Because remind us like Henry's background, if you remember, I mean, I remember some of it, but if you wanna remind us of how he looks, yeah. >> I mean, Henry's a good looking kid. He's not like super stand out, but it's trying to cultivate facial hair and it's not going terrific. But it's not going as horribly as some disaster. >> Right, right, right. >> Have in the past, he doesn't really worry about style like that so much. So brown hair, brown eyes, nothing really striking about Henry except for his eyes are very observant, right? >> I think we also agree that he's like, he has some Mexican heritage so his mom is Mexican American and his dad is white. >> They own the quick bite. >> They own the quick bite franchise in town and they put a lot of pressure on him to be successful. So he's dealing with that. So and also I remember that Lucy and fed on Henry, more than once. So that's something that I think we can tap into in a little bit, but thank you for that. So Cora, what is your sartorial choice as you're walking into jars of clay? Did you go home to change after school or did you just? >> Yeah, probably, honestly. >> Mm-hm. >> You know, wearing the same thing all day is not very exciting and magical. So yeah, so in appropriate supporting rocker friend fashion. >> Yeah. >> I think Cora's wearing, it's like a black, mostly black with hints of silver ensemble. There is a black print tee that says dress to kill on it. >> Nice. >> And like a little track jacket sort of situation that has like a geometric kind of silvery pattern that looks sort of like constellations. And then black jeans with the retro fashionable studded belt. >> Nice, love it. Okie dokie, all right, and Dylan, what are you wearing? >> Dylan's going for kind of a, you know, he didn't go home to change. And so. >> Well, his outfit is a way of life, I mean, his. >> It is. It's not a costume. >> No. >> It's a way of life. But that being said, when he goes to school, he doesn't go all out, right? And so it was a fairly typical school outfit for him, which is, here we go. Let's see. >> Oh man. >> Short sleeve, what? >> No, I'm just thinking about all the rebel kids that when I was in high school, at least in L.A., L.I., was the rebel look, which was dark denim boots, like motorcycle tight boots, in different colors, like either tan or black or whatever. And then like a crisp white t-shirt, always with an undershirt under it, or like a thick, like a thick white tee rolled up, like the cuffs, like rebel that would cause kind of stuff, leather jacket, denim jacket, it was a total vibe back then. And then the perfectly quaffed hair, it's rockabilly adjacent, but it was called like the rebel look. So I'm just thinking of that, but anyway, moving on, sorry. >> Did we establish if kids still dress rockabilly these days? Is that a thing? Or is Dylan just completely a man out of time? >> That is the part of the era that I have not seen come back yet, though, but I'm sure it will. >> Yeah. >> Well, they're going to rediscover the swing revival at some point. It's inevitable. >> We'll see. I don't know. I feel like rockabilly shows up more in like lesbian circles than it might. >> That's going to say. That's like a circle. >> Absolutely. Definitely. There's a whole strain of that. So yeah. >> All right. Well, so it's something about Dylan off confused for a mass lesbian. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Name included. >> Yeah. >> Exactly. Everyone's just kind of like a head scratcher, but it's still fine. So, yeah. So Dylan, what are you, what are you wearing? >> Right. So again, here I'm trying to describe- >> I can help. >> I'm going to try my best. >> I can help you. >> It's a short sleeve button up shirt. It's already elbow length, and then it's rolled, like you say, a couple rolls up to the biceps. >> Okay. >> You know. >> Nice. Got it. >> With a sort of- >> Collard. It's a collard shirt. >> It's a collard shirt. >> But down with an oxford. It looks like an oxford shirt. >> A little bit, yes. With a kind of unbuttoned, a couple buttons at the top of course. >> Yes. Yes. >> Sort of gentle flannel or checkered pattern. >> It's like a western shirt. >> Yes, exactly. >> And a sort of- >> And a snap instead of buttons. >> Probably, yes. >> Another pro snap button or fake mother pro snap buttons, okay. >> And then, yeah, in these sort of sage, green and aqua tones, you know, that matches well. Yes. >> Go on. Keep going. >> Matches well with the immaculate denim jeans, right? >> Yeah. >> These are not just like off the rack Levi's, you know. These are jeans he got for Christmas. >> Specifically asked for them. >> That he specifically asked for, exactly. Like that can be the only thing you get me for Christmas, so there's one of these jeans, you know. >> Yeah, and you wash them every 15 wares. You don't want them to fade, you want them to be really dark. >> Yes. I actually have an app on my phone to track it too. >> Nice. >> And those are also rolled- >> Yes. >> Thick, thick rolls to reveal the lighter interior. >> Yes. >> And also to reveal his bright red socks that he's wearing, and then he's just got some Chuck Taylor, some low-rise Chuck Taylor. >> What color? >> A black classic. >> Okay. Okay. >> Hair is, of course, classic short cut with not high and tight, just a short cut. And today, just slick back with lots of, you know, homemade, and I don't know if he smokes or not. >> Well, we know Adrian smokes, and I got roasted for that choice, but I still stand by that. >> Well, for Dylan, it would be an aesthetic choice, speaking of, you know, not realizing what you got while you have it, healthy lungs being one of those things. As part of your like fashion ensemble, you're willing to sacrifice your lungs to look a certain part. >> I feel like Dylan's eye color, like what colors his hair and eyes again, he looks very light-skinned. >> Light-skinned with light. I think he is a blue-eyed brunette, that's what it looks like. >> Brunette. Yeah, okay. >> He has the kind of eyes that shift color, because they're that sort of light, where basically, like if he's wearing green, they look green. If he's wearing blue, they look blue, you know, that kind of a thing. Okay. Great. Okay. Is everyone feel happy about talking about Sartorial Choices? >> Yes. Yes. >> You're satisfied. Okay, good. >> And the reason I like to talk about fashion raining, since you're roasting me in the chat, is that how I get good at things, is by talking about them, so I want to be better. >> You did a voice that sounded like, what's his name? What is his name? >> Oh, Condigawa. >> Condigawa, like, yeah, like the nemesis of Iron Chef Japan always is this guy who just talks like this all the time. >> Yeah. He's like, yes. >> I've come back and I've brought a better chef this time. >> Yes. >> It's so good. It's so funny. Dylan is there, Cora is, Cora walks in, and what do you do? >> Well, I don't know. I think Cora should make a role if they're so inclined. >> For what? >> To turn on. >> Oh, you want to turn? Okay. >> I'm a side character. >> I'm a side character. >> I can't make any roles. >> Okay. Sorry. I'm obviously right. >> I can only react. >> I'm doing it wrong. Okay. >> So Cora, you are on the scene. You are here. What did we talk about? What was compelling? Oh, because you like the atmospheric jars of clay. Is there any other reason you have for being here today on a specific day? >> I think I need a distraction while I'm waiting for Adrian to recover and make sure that he's okay. >> Yeah. >> So it's been, I would say, let's say 10 days. He was discharged from the hospital just the day before, so you're still at home recovering, but you've had some conversations, which we can delve into. So Adrian texted you once he was discharged and back home, and it was like, oh, God, oh, I think he sent you a picture of his hands, because his knuckles and fingers were just great into oblivion, considering he was like wailing on Lucian, and he sends pictures of his hands to you, or one of his hands. And he says, he texted, we got to get him. How did you respond to that, if at all? >> I think my response was something along the lines of right now, we just need to make sure that you get better, so that you're strong enough. >> Okay, so he sent you a heart emoji back. Okay. >> So your reason for coming to Jarza Clay is a distraction from that. Did you know Dylan was going to be, did you know it was open mic? >> Yeah, of course I did. >> And so, so Dylan is on the list, and you see him there, and what do you do? I think, so you see him there, and I see him again right there, and I'm like, all right. So I think I will, you know, make an appearance with Dylan really quickly, just be like, oh, so which song are you performing this evening? >> Shit, I'm unprepared. >> Where's your rockabilly song generator? >> Yeah. >> Hold on, hold on. Do you want to roll with hot, or is that, okay, yeah. >> I mean, who does, I might be off my game today. >> Well. >> Yeah. >> Not. Wait, meaning. >> All eyes on you. >> Oh, partial, just learning, I like it, partial success on that, so they can give you a string or choose one of the following reactions, Dylan will give themselves to you, promise something that they think you want, or Dylan will get embarrassed and act awkward. So Dylan, what do you, what do you do once like, Cora walks up? >> Mm. >> I will get embarrassed and act awkward. >> Oh. >> And yeah, because I'm just like, oh shit, Cora is here, and I'm going to be performing. That's, no. >> Pressure. >> Pressure. So I just sort of looked down at the floor, I'm like, just some Johnny Cash. >> You have the perfect voice for it, that'll be delightful. >> Cool. >> Thanks. >> Oh my gosh. >> Like pretending to tune my guitar. >> Yeah, it's already tuned. So Henry, you're seeing this exchange. What's, did I already ask you, like, have you heard any rumors about Cora specifically since all of the weirdness, did we talk about this already, please forgive me if I'm repeating. No, no, you're great, you're perfect. >> Okay. All right. >> You love it. Everything's amazing. Yeah. >> This is cool. All right, so what? >> Rumors about Cora. >> Oh, yeah. >> And rather than like a list of rumors, just kind of the gist of what they all mean, really? >> Yeah. >> Is that she is, sorry, they are not what they seem. And seductive in kind of a manipulative way, you know, they use their wiles to be guile others and get their way or guide. >> Literally never done that, so never, ever. >> Yeah. >> Keep going. >> That's the chatter around the water cooler at Monster Squad HQ. >> Yeah. Cool. All right. >> So what crew? >> Dance basement. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Or whatever, I don't know. >> Or Devon's house or -- >> Devon's house. >> -- basement studio. >> Devon's garage where there's like, look, don't look at the model trains, okay? Those are from when I was a kid, I never still play with them every day. >> Oh. >> Devon's model trains? >> I'm sure I'm just riffing on stuff. >> You inherited them from his grandpa to be fair. >> Hello. >> Their antiques. >> And it's the whole saw horses with the plywood table top and then the whole village and everything. And you can take this part off and then you can put in a Christmas village and you can take that off and put in a Halloween city. >> I feel like -- absolutely, I feel like my -- when my parents went into the house that they bought in the mid '80s, the garage had something like that where it was like a built-in railroad track. This person did models. It was extensive and they had to dismantle it because nobody in my house would just not train people. All right, so -- >> Wow, that was a dismissive laugh. Not intentional. >> You know that's my retirement hobby, right? >> I know. >> So I'm scoffing now. >> Okay. >> No, there's nothing wrong with that. I think I was mostly laughing at like somebody building something up and having such a focus on this hobby and then people coming in and just totally taking it apart. This is nothing. Like we don't need this. It's just kind of like whoa. >> Get it. How do you -- >> Mandela energy kind of -- >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's true. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Because it's not like he took it with them, you know, like the owner took it with them or anything, you know. It's just like, okay, whatever happens, what happens? Okay. So, okay. >> What proof I think you were asking. >> Yeah. What proof does anyone -- has anyone presented about this? >> Okay. So we were all at Lucian's loft apartment one night, that night, we were all there when there was the incidents in the bedroom. >> Yes. >> Now, none of us were in that room, but we know who was among us. Also, Zann has numerous minutes of vids, kind of surreptitiously recording Quora's interactions with various friends and so on, and it's interesting how these glitch from time to time. It's almost like there's some sort of glamorous effect of interfering with the technology or something, but none of the monster squad is putting that word on it, you know. >> Right. And also, Quora has been peripherally spending time with the monster squad. So, Quora, let's talk more about your activities there. >> Sure. >> So what the heck are you doing with those peeps, and what have you gleaned? >> Um, I mean that I promised to help me figure out the content of the folders and understand its significance. >> Okay. >> So I've mostly been checking in on that, and then obviously, I know Autumn's been background because her gang and everything. >> Right. >> I haven't been pushing her folder as part of that game so far. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I even made the offer to help take her stuff out of the pile, you know, like a distract, because again, you know, it's all just part of the fun. And I know that there is a keen interest on Riley's part of the folder, but it's mostly understanding exactly what's in there so we know what we're dealing with, because I know my stuff's in there too. And so at some point I have to figure out a way to work around all that, but I have the smallest folder, so it's probably-- >> Yeah. I do want to get into that. So yeah. >> I forgot about the folder, so-- >> Oh yeah. >> That too. Let's not forget the giant mountain of Evelyn, so what kind of stuff do you have? >> Yeah. >> I love it. >> I love it. >> So, Cora, where do you decide to sit? Because if you turn to face the main area of the coffee shop, you see Henry sitting at a table. So, once I'm done checking in with Dylan and failing to get any strings on him and stuff like that, then I'd go over and bother Henry, so it'd be fine. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So you head over there. So Henry, Cora is making a beeline for you. What do you do? >> Walking right towards me. >> Yeah. >> I contact. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I would, noticing this, right? Look at Cora and to put my pen down and to close the lid of my laptop. Like, I'm going to give you my attention. Now, I can even pretend to ignore you just like, all right, let's see where this goes. >> Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Okay. Cora, what are you, what are you doing? Where do you work? Come on. >> I'm just trying to catch up. My grades have really been slipping. I've been putting in extra shifts at the quick bite. I mean, you probably know, right? Like, you see me there all the time, everybody's always never lets me forget that I work at the quick bite. Not like I have a choice. >> Ooh, is it the quick bite at the, is it the quick bite at the newbo, like the little newbo kiosk quick bite? >> Ooh. I'm going to say that like, yeah, he's been like tasked with running by the whole let's grow the business and stuff like that. >> It puts you very close to Marcel as well. >> So he's been told to do that and that's what it, and it's like, but I have school and it's like, you'll have plenty of time to go to school if you don't go out with your stupid friends. So now he's been working so hard with that, you know, really been neglecting my school work. Like, I got six teachers, he was signing stuff and they say that it should only take you an hour, but they forget it and the five of them that think the same thing when I'm supposed to do all this shit. >> Okay. >> It's like kind of going on a little rant here about it. >> Yeah. Henry is tightly wound. So Corey, what do you do? Anything I can do to help? >> Oh, you know, you are in my insert class that we have together class, right? >> What is it? Which one is it? Let's get a specific. >> Economy. No. >> This is established. It is a class. >> It is a class. >> Economy. >> Economy. >> Economy. >> Economy. >> Economy. >> Economy. >> For college credit. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Only college credit, you know. You'd have to waste your time and stick to school. All right. So what is it? Yeah. A class is it. >> We are in a... Let's go with history. >> Okay. >> Everyone always picks history. >> Yeah. >> In fiction for some reason. >> So you're in history class together. >> History of chemistry. Which one do you guys like? History? >> Yeah. >> History history. >> Yeah. >> You're in my history class, right? We're doing a module on colonialism in the Cressinta Bay area, right? And how that played out, but I haven't been able to correct this paper. I wrote this paper shuffling around papers, right? And as he's shuffling around papers, there's some investigative papers. That like are exposed, right? And it's like, you kind of like, and instead of playing it cool and like, hmm, that's nothing, right? He looks up at Quora. >> Quora, do you notice this? >> Quora say do. >> Yeah. >> What do you do? So what do you do? >> Oh, have you been working on the folders, too? >> Nice. >> No, I mean, I've got a lot of folders. I got to like picks up the whole stack, like starts like flattening them and stuff like that. Anyway, I have this paper that I haven't been able to correct. As you can see, I got like, you know, 20% on it. But you know, Mr. Jenkins is being cool enough to let me correct it and then hand it back in, you know, for half credit, which will be another 30 points, which means I could probably get like a C in that class, but I don't think I'll have time to do that if, I mean, I don't know, what should I do? Is there a way you could help me with that, maybe? >> All right, I'm going to roll with hot. >> Yeah. >> I'm going to offer to take all of these papers off your hands, the whole little stack of stuff you're working on, including your investigative papers to help you out, you know? So, most resist, but just MPC, can I resist? >> Let's see, let's, but you know, I know, that does not go well. >> Okay. >> Wow. Suddenly, like Henry, like, this isn't coming across very well, of course, trying to do something, but it's, you feel super, super suspicious slash. Like, I'm on to Cora now. I can tell they're acting kind of weird. So Cora, what's the weird giveaway that you feel Henry is privy to? >> I think there's something in the parts of the files they've looked at so far. >> Yeah. >> That where there are certain things that they're probably looking out for to see if it's true. >> Okay. >> So Henry will-- >> Yeah, sorry. Go on, Cora. You want to hand it to Henry to see what obvious sign it is, I don't mind. >> No, no. Go for it. >> I was just going to say, like, when I go to reach for the papers, they, and dampen. [laughter] >> They didn't take it. >> Nice. Oh, man. >> So, Henry, you see this surge of water, it doesn't look like sweat. It just looks slimy, like, it's a protective coating for a fish, but on a human hand, a human-looking hand, but what the, like, this is slimy, slippery hand reaching out to you. What do you do? >> Oh, so I want to say it's working. It's 100% working at first. He's like, yeah, that sounds awesome. >> Yeah. >> We can get together and go over it, maybe. He's like handing him over, right, and the exchange is about to be made, and then that eagerness at that point was Cora's undoing. [laughter] >> He sees that at the last second, and then that snaps him out of it, right? He's like, oh, actually, you know, I just remember, I already handed that in, so it's, it's all good. It's always the stuff in everything in his backpack on the opposite side of Cora, you know? >> Uh-huh. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it's, it's fine. You know, I forgot. Thanks, though. Thank you. >> And I think this comes across as very smooth, because, because Cora failed, and it's not like a good, embarrassed, and act awkward, you're just like, oh, I'm, I'm actually fine. Like, I'm thinking about it, and I got it covered. Like, there's actually this sense of confidence, because you feel like you have some more information that you can share with the squad, and so, yeah, so it's, it's more, it's more smooth, you know? >> Does Henry gain a string? >> Yeah, so you get a string on Cora. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. >> 'Cause, 'cause of the fail. >> So, Cora, you're seeing Henry is coming off as very, in total control of the situation, and seems very suspicious of you, at the same time, but handling it in a very calm way, just almost shutting you down. So what do you do? >> When someone is suspicious of you, and what you're doing is not working, and they are, you know, on to you, what you do is you divert and project on to someone else. And so, I would, I'm pout for a second, and then speaking of the quick riot, have you seen Lucy in "Lately"? >> Oh! >> Sorry. >> All right. >> All right. >> When is the last time Henry would have seen. >> Yeah, when is the last time. >> In light of recent events. >> Indeed. You are at the new vote. >> I think that in Henry's newfound confident place, with all his sensitive papers safely stashed in his jansport, and now zipped up his patented rubber bottom safe from any boister on the floor. He would lean back and pick up his coffee, and he depends what you mean. I've seen a fool coming and going like a lot, but I haven't talked to him in a long time. And not for lack of effort on my part, seems like Lucy is just keeping people at arms length lately, so I haven't been able to, but I work down here, and I want you guys go here and there, wherever you're all going, I'm stuck at work, and I see you guys all time. >> Henry's such a old man, I love it. >> So Dylan eats coffee, it's a cold pit. >> Yeah, yeah. So Dylan, you're seeing Cora talk with Henry for a good awhile, so what are you thinking of that? Or we'll get back to that Lucy in answer. So yeah, Dylan, what do you think, what are you going to do? >> You know, obviously I have to win her over with the song, so I'm going to start working up maybe, you know, change up what I was planning to play, and think of like a love song or something. >> Okay, we'll get back to that. So Henry says this to you, Cora, in terms of seeing Lucy in all the time. I'm a little curious, like if Lucy's been actually feeding on Henry and hypnotizing him so he doesn't know it, but that's just a little thought. So Cora, what do you think about all this? >> I mean, I'm starting to lose interest because Henry is not a good target for any of my wiles apparently that I use on everybody to get what I want, not to know, but I note mentally that much like I was super smart and kept all the super secret documents in her locker at school. All of the gang are also super smart and randomly keeping the papers in their backpacks and stuff like that. So I just, I'm making a note and then I'll probably end up, while Henry's talking about how tough it is to be like a grown man with a job or whatever, I'm on my phone texting Levi. >> So what do you text to Levi? It's like, hey, you know, I know everybody's been busy and it's been a while. I checked in with Adrian, he's doing a lot better. Any update on those files? >> So there's a response bubbling percolating there because Levi is definitely in response. So the question is progress with the files, right? >> Yep. >> Okay. So Levi says text back. >> Yeah, yeah, and that's just it, just two yas. And then there's more, like a bubble of possible writing and then it just goes away really fast. So do you want to roll with hot to see, like if you can ask another question, should we push on it? Okay. >> Or abyss. >> Or abyss. >> I think I might. >> What's wrong with dark about it? >> Yeah, let's do dark. >> Because my push would be like, you promised you would tell me. >> Yeah. >> That's right. >> Like, yeah, thank you for making the game better, David. So yeah. >> Okay. >> We're all here to support each other. >> So let's roll back. Partial success, you promised. Yeah. Okay. So what do you look? What are you looking for? Oh. >> Because I'm gazing into the abyss. So I'm obviously texting him back, like, hey, you promised. And I can feel myself kind of on the edge of that darkest self-ness where I'm like, yes. >> Use motherfucks. >> Yeah. Exactly. Yes. And the reminder of sea king being like, excuse me. And so I think I'm obviously like, as I'm gazing into the abyss, my concern is, did they find something that's going to make this harder for me? That's what I want to know. Find something that's going to make it harder for you, yeah. >> So you're staring at your phone. Do you text something back to Levi to compel them to maybe answer? >> Yeah. Kind of before I go into my full internalness of it, I think it's like, you promise dot dot dot. You know. >> Yeah. I like that. >> And then I just go into. >> Staring and waiting for the response. >> Yeah. >> So you're looking at the bubbles that are percolating because it's not stopping this time. Or more and more and more. And you're kind of mesmerized by that. And it feels like the bubbles of just of being underwater, just all the little percolations and the popping sounds of just being underwater and how it sounds to be there. And you're picturing being engulfed by the waves and swimming out to sea. And you're thinking about that, going inward and thinking and thinking with this promise. The promise echoing in your ears, Levi saying, like, help me. The promise that you made. And it's swimming deep, deep down, like going down as night and heading toward what you know to be your home. Like going home and having a feeling of relief as you're delving. And so it's the sense of like, I'm home free. Like I made it. Nobody knows. And I can go back to this life and maybe I can find something else to do. It's going to be just as entertaining as being on the surface. But there's a feeling of relief of being back into your usual realm. And then the phone vibrates and Levi's like, yeah, we got it covered. I do want to talk to you about some things though, nothing bad. Okay. I will respond to that. Yeah. Since I got a partial success on gazing to the abyss, part of me, unfortunately, thinking back to home, the fairy king does get to demand a favor of me as part of my partial fail. Yeah, because I think my response would be like, of course, anytime, where and when. So he's sending you a response and yeah, he's like, we could do it after school tomorrow. You can just meet me in the quad. And so with that, you feel this like there's a sudden overwhelming feeling of if so, you're getting pulled underwater again, even though you're standing there as a strange feeling and trying to steady yourself as you're responding and you hear the sea king's voice in your ears and says, you have to erase all trace of this nobody can know, of course, okay. And then the feeling just leaves you and you're back and jars of clay. All the sound comes a-blushing back and before you know it, Dylan is on stage and starting to strum the first couple chords of the song that he has chosen specifically for you. Dylan, what is it? I have selected Cupid's victim by Tiger Army. So you start playing, yeah, or what do you expect hearing from the melody? Um, I mean, I guess for fun things, I can try to keep my cool. Okay. Because today, I've been going great. It's been going really well. So please. What am I afraid of? Yeah. I'm afraid that I might actually like him in a way that makes it harder for me to use him. Because things happen going my way and then I am worried because it's come up more than ones that I'm becoming a little too human. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a problem. Yeah, it is scary. Let's see how it goes. Okay. I know modifiers except for my minus fail. Oh. Okay. And so with that, so Dylan, you're playing your voice is sounding lovely. The guitar is very evocative and your guitar playing is evocative. And before you know it, just keep an eye contact the whole time, you know, trying to go and Cora is stumbling, backing away, almost falling over tables to get the hell away from, from this possible lane. It's so cool. So cool. And knocking things over, people's drinks are getting knocked over and there's some clattering and off Cora goes into the evening. Can I, can I put a condition on her because I are on because yeah, absolutely. I don't know. I'm thinking something like crushing on Dylan or something along those lines. Oh, um, she does like me. Let's see. But it has to be something on the Cora. Yeah. I know. Well, so it's, what does it prove? The name of the song itself. Yeah. I think keep it's victim would be fine, actually. What do you all think? Yeah. I think that's something that can be used against me. It's generic enough. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sounds good. So we'll do that. And that, and that includes the Cora section interlude. Bravo. Let's take five minutes and then we'll go into Riley. That's a tight five, everyone. Tight five. Right. Bye. Bye. a lot of time. a lot of time. a lot of time. a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. I think it's a lot of time. So Riley, it's been about ten days since the incident on closing night. We have the two side characters for this. We'll be Devin and I guess Dylan again. That's true. I didn't think about that. We were going to have time characters showing up twice. That's only a different time of day. But we're going to have Devin showing up twice too. So that's not a bad thing. Well, that's always a good thing. I think. And it could take place at the same place. I mean, it is an open mic night. I mean, there is that idea. Yeah, absolutely. Just an idea. Oh, that's kind of what I was thinking. Since Riley loves to perform and maybe it's been a minute. And maybe some newfound confidence slash wanting to get up on stage again after the closing night of the Wizard of Oz. So if you're okay with that, we can just have it to be later in the evening. So you maybe see Cora running the hell away from Jarza Clay as you're walking up with your guitar. So Riley wants to perform. It's been a minute since you've had your open mic night. What's inspired you to perform at the evening? Definitely the limelight, you know, getting a taste of that again when it had been so long. Definitely reignited that spark that had been laying dormant for no reason. I mean, nothing going on. So you've brought your guitar with you? And you're walking up to the place when you see Cora running down the street. And you're hearing Dylan's familiar playing and singing as you're entering into the coffee house. Dylan, you're on stage and you see Riley walk in just as Cora's leaving or as left. What do you think of that? Yes. Well, I'm already shook it because I don't know if I know how to interpret Cora running away like that. Yeah, I don't know. If I have a condition, I feel like it was obvious, right? Oh, yeah. That's true. Like she really likes me. I'm so overwhelmed by my response to your song. Okay. Not so much confused as I am like amazed because I've never, yeah, I've never had that effect on one before. But I'm going to play it off. I'm going to play it off. Like, yeah, that's right. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. Riley walks in. Yeah. So Devin, what brings you to jars of clay tonight? Well, you know, Autumn has been in a relationship with Riley. Yeah. And so I feel like it's a good idea to know, get to know it better because he's someone who's important to her. Oh. And so I should be there to support him and like be there for him too, I guess. Yeah. That'd be the right thing to do. So can I go out on a limb here and say you're accompanying Riley? You, she decided to walk to the coffee house together? Maybe me. Me at the coffee house. Okay. All right. Yeah. We come from different directions to get there. It's okay. Yeah. So you arrive at the same time and Devin, do you notice Cora running on the opposite direction? Well, based on Cora's role, I'm assuming again. Yeah. That is obvious. But again, that, I mean, something about Cora, they're like, you know, like holding their cheeks and like, really, you know, weird and awkward. So I'm just like, okay. But then maybe it's like, I don't know. At this point, to be assumed that Henry's packed up then? I would not assume that. I would assume Henry's still there. Okay. So then seeing that Henry's inside, I'll probably be like, I can ask about that later. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So Riley, what are you wearing when you are going to resume and open mic night and want to be seen and appreciated? Riley's actually not super dressed up. Yeah. He's got a black t-shirt that is maybe a size too small. It's very fitted actually. Yeah. And he's wearing every piece of jewelry that he has, which is a couple of rings, probably stainless steel. There's not a lot of money going on in Riley's game, especially. Right. He stopped his business dealings with Uncle Silas. Yes. And really ripped up blue jeans, button fly, and over of all things this time, cowboy boots, which for whatever reason is trying out, but doesn't like them so far. Because they're not broken in for him. Yeah. Like a good pair of broken in cowboy boots do there. You know, new and cheap, which is a recipe for not liking cowboy boots. Yeah. All right. Nice. Anything with your hair? Of course, the sides are all shaved still as in accordance with the ancient prophecy. And like he always has. Yeah. But the top is a series of multiple braids, but they're all gathered in a big bundle of braids at the back and incrementally banded down the tail. Okay. Nice. To down below the shoulders. Yes. Devin, Devin is on time and meeting you there. What do you do? Um, we came from different directions, right? Yeah. Ora came out and went away. Yeah. Past of and away from where Riley was coming up. So Devin has turned around and is watching Cora flee. I'm walking that way already. I'm watching Cora flee, right? Kind of. Happen potentially. Stock up behind Devin unnoticed. Yeah. And then before he notices I'm there, I'm going to be listening to Dylan's. Yeah. Oh, he's gotten good. Devin, what do you do? Well, unlike everything I did, everyone demanded that I roll something. I could just react to it. So, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I haven't really heard him sing before, but it sounds good. So it's very talented. Oh, man. Yeah. It's a genre switch for him in a big, bad way, bro. Used to be all, you know, gospel type of chorus line sort of shit. None of this cool stuff. This is great. Nice. Wait. So, so Dylan was singing show tunes? No, I just, I just, I just heard a chorus line. So I was like, well, so I don't mean a chorus line. Oh, man. Yeah. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. It's perfect. When I was at school, we had a whole group of kids who had best bow ties and a whole get up and have a thing. They do like numbers and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. Oh, that was me. I was, I was in, I was, I was in the vocal prose. We'll just put it that way. Okay. That's what I'm talking about. We're doing those types of things. So Dylan is, if there's a shift here and you're detecting it, it sounds good. Devin, you're noticing it. So Riley, what do you want to do next? Let's go inside. Yeah, right. But, but first, a nice hot cup of Quora. What was that about, bro? Did you see that? And you can see like a little tiny. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So definitely think. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I hope they're okay. Two. They smell a. Come catching a threat of fear in that, in that. Yeah. That's a weird thing to say. I totally forgot that Riley's real subtle, totally down a load. And would never say something like that to literally whoever he's talking to. Not bad. Let's rewind and let me have another tip. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I can picture Devin or something like that, but I just want to do a little side thing of the last episode, where it's like, I'm going to kill you if you fucking do any, like, like, right? So wild. Okay. Get the fuck out of here. I'll kill you myself. Yeah. Yeah. That made me laugh so hard this morning. I was like, I cannot believe that happened. Anyway. So Devin, so you say, like, what do you say? Well, I mean, Riley's a little scary. I'm trying to get to know him. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm like, so I'm just kind of like, my response says, that's totally a normal human thing to say, but I don't think I say much. I think I'm just like, hmm. You're facing. Yeah. I rose up. I was big. Like, nodding. Right. Riley, what do you detect on this? What are you picking up on here? Well, he's like, yeah. You too. Right? I did notice that. Yeah. I guess mine. That doesn't say smell. Isn't that good? You say that? Yeah. I love that. I'm so good. Okay. So what do you do, Riley, when you hear that? Look over at Devin, like, she ran right past you, man. Didn't catch that, huh? Well, sorry. We've all got our blind spots, bro. Pat him on the back before gesturing towards the door, right? Yeah. Like, we're going to go in. And as we walk in, pat him on the back, you know, not, not feeling him. Right. But noticing. All the hot. Yeah. If you're feeling me. You're all of hot. You're feeling the Devin. He turned on Devin. I mean, I didn't discover something about himself. Yeah. Oh, and let him know. You're feeling what his, what his back feels like. And we know that he is, like, surprisingly jacked, right? Yeah. That's right. He was established. But you wouldn't necessarily notice that. He patted. He's carved out of wood and then you kind of give it a little rub and it's like there's ricklies there. Yeah. Right. A little bump. Right. Bumps. Bumps. Okay. So, um, yes, let's roll with hot and see. All right. Let's see to do something. Oh, it's connection. It's a connection, I think, because you're like saying, oh, that's okay, dude. Like, not everybody, no, you can detect that kind of thing. I think it's, it's a, it's a kind acquiescing to his human state. Yeah. Just noticing you're looking, you're looking, you're looking good. You're looking jacked. All right. So, okay. So partial. Okay. Great. I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. As the, the back padding is happening. And so Devin, you can give Riley a string or give themselves, give yourself to Riley. Promise. Just lean in. Like, if I finally happened, just like lean into the back rub, he was like, ooh. No. I've been a little tight back there. Ooh, yeah. Got a little knot there, so you promise something you think that Riley wants or you get embarrassed back backward? Which one? Um, I think I am going to give Riley a string because he has learned my, my little secret downtime. Yeah. That I've been engaged again. That's not push-ups and pull-ups and calisthetics. Yeah. All right. I'm doing the One Punch Man Challenge. All right. All right. All right. So. That checks out, actually. Riley, you feel like you now know something more about, about Devin. So the insight is, is there and you have that string now. You enter into Jarza Clay and the music is louder. Dylan is finishing up his second song. What's the second song that you're singing, Dylan, after that lovely rendition? Well, since I had prepared Johnny Cash, I'm doing, uh, I walk the line. Okay. Great. Yeah. So, uh, Riley, so where do you go to sign up to go to the table or the usual hippie dudes there? Yeah. I feel like I would just go there and whether Devin tags along or goes in, uh, squares away somewhere to sit or whatever, uh, I was going to go to the table and sign up, put my name on. Yeah. So it was beaten. All right. So Devin, where do you go? Do you follow Riley? Yeah, I think I do and like, I'm, I'm trying to build up that relationship. So like, uh, my mom gave me money to get us both drinks if you want something. Nice. Hell yeah, dude. Give me, give me whatever you're getting. Appreciate, man. Oh, okay. Yeah. So off Devin goes to talk to Maxine, the clerk. And so Riley, so the guy who kind of looks like a cheaper, cheaper, uh, low rent version of Lebowski, um, Jeff Bridges, he's sitting at the little sign in table. He's like, Riley, I can't believe you're here. It's been forever, man. In the flesh, bro. I'm here. You look great. Look at this is so cool. All right. First, can I sign you up for just, just one? One. All right. All right. Are you sure about that? I can sign you up for more. I've been pretty rusty, man. I don't know. I think I can bring the house down with just one though. Fuck. You know what I'm saying? All right. All right. All right. I know you've done it before. So he's like signing you in and doing everything. It's like, all right. All right. Well, there's a couple of people ahead of you. So just enjoy the show. And yeah, good to see you. Good to see you kid. Yeah. You too. Cool man. So he nods and what do you do next, Riley? I'm going to go stake out some places to, some places to sit, if Devin's up at the bar getting our drinks, right? The coffee bar. Yeah. So the coffees are ready to go. What's Devin? What do you get? Devin doesn't really drink a lot of caffeine. Yeah. So, and Riley said to get what he's getting. So he's gotten a steamer, which is typically a children's drink at a coffee shop. And I think he has gone a little wild flavor wise and he got cinnamon syrup instead of vanilla today. Oh. Okay. Yeah. So some hot cinnamon milk is what I get. Exactly. Yeah. Nice. I love it. So you're in Jersey play. What? Gone a little while. I love spicy. I mean, you know, calm down. Yeah. It is spicy. Wait, David, what did you mean by that? Rainy said he's gone a little wild. Yeah. He's talking me. Yeah, flavor wise. This is a lot for cinnamon. He's trying to like show off, you know, spicy, but he did ask for it sweetened with honey because you're gonna be singing. So, oh, consider it. So you walk up with the drinks, Devin, and Riley, where are you? You see Henry sitting at a table and he looks a little stressed and pressed. And he has some papers on the table in front of him. And Devin, you notice this as well. Dylan, you see where Riley and Devin are sitting and you're pretty much done with your two songs. And if you've been doing the open mic night sporadically, you would know Riley's kind of a fixture. And maybe you two have bonded over some music in the past, maybe. Definitely. And I'm feeling I'm right and high off of my successful performance and kind of feeling again, like faking it till I make it kind of thing. So, oh, yeah, I'm going to go talk to Riley because, you know, maybe old me wouldn't have done that. Plus, I know Dylan, you know, we're, we were in band together. Devin, Devin. I mean, Devin, I know, I know Dylan too well, I know Devin because we were in, we were in band together. Okay. So, yeah. So, Riley, you're, you're fine to spot. You are sipping your beverage and what do you think of that beverage? Well, this is an interesting choice, you know, like, I'll taste it like, is this just milk? Like, that's not just milk. I mean, there's honey in there for your voice, your throat and, you know, some cinnamon. So be careful. It might be a little spicy. No, no, no, no, no, I'll take a big, like, chug of it, you know, the big old milk mustache. Did you know the milk is like one of the most complete proteins you can eat and it's got all of the essential aminos you need? I mean, it gets a bad rap and it's kind of gross, but it's actually really good for you. Looks like you've been drinking your milk, too, right? The show is funded by the milk council, yes. It's right on into our sponsors. Yeah. It's sponsored. That is just repeating, like, what he's heard on the, like, commercials. Yeah. So, Devin, what do you think of this? Riley starts talking about milk. I think you just roll up there and be like, yeah, I heard that about, like, eggs, too. Brought to you by the egg council. Yeah. All right. So, yeah, man. That's shit right there. You're talking about eggs and milk and Dylan walks. Dylan, what do you do? I'm a little bemused by the whole situation. Just kind of like, huh, interesting, you know, and I'll just kind of wait for a little pause in the conversation and then I'll give, like, Riley, the old chin, chin wave, like, you know, and not really acknowledging Devin until I've been able to sort of connect with Riley, you know? Mm-hmm. So, like, the chin check. Because I'm a bit of a shit. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Riley would definitely stand up at the chin check, you know, excited that Dylan is here. Dylan, bro, that was awesome, man, crushed it, man. And just swing out the arm, not even hold out, you know, immediately thrown it out there. Hopefully you catch it, otherwise it's going to be super awkward. Yeah. All right. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'm not sure if you pull my shoulder out of socket or not. All right. All right. Yep. He's not there to hurt anybody, but I think that it's pretty obvious the power dynamic at play there is the big boisterous personality with the sprinkle of throw someone through a play-class window, you know? Definitely. So, Riley, you noticed that Henry is turning back and looking at you guys. What do you do? Mm-hmm. After Dylan and I clasp hands, pull them into the bro hug, requisite two-pats maximum, and then disengage, then I notice that Henry's watching us go through our little ritual. I think I associate Henry with Lucy in a lot, and while Lucy and I are not at odds necessarily, and I am trying to bring everyone together, you know? And I also am trying to be a little politic when it comes to Lucy because there's a bigger target and our interests are there if we're aligned. I still can't help, but I need to make sure that everyone knows who the alpha in that relationship is. So I think that would result in kind of sending a message Henry's way. So when he sees Henry kind of looking at us, you know, lock eyes with him, I notice you look at me and respond in a very like, "You mad dog in me, bitch?" Yeah. I know, hey. Do you want to shut him down? Yes. Let's give that a try. Let's try that first. We'll see what happens. So... Let's see. Yeah. Let's see what happens. Fail. That's how I went to. Congratulations. We are not excited about... We're in the club. Yeah. We both... So wow. So you are looking at Henry and you're remembering everything from like... Like... How you got into... How you got into... Oh wait. Ooh. Somebody caught... Somebody caught Lucian feeding on Henry. That was Adrian. Okay. That's how he got into attention. So you've heard rumors. You're thinking about all of the fucking shit that Lucian has done. He injured Adrian pretty severely. I mean, the whole autumn thing. I think everything kind of starts flooding back when you see Henry and your eyes start to change. And they look wolf-like. You are right on the verge of just finding Lucian right now and ripping his throat out. Yeah. All these... Get down to business. All these feelings are coming out and it's impossible to control. So I'm gonna give you an opportunity to keep your cool, but this is basically verging into darkest stuff. You are gonna transform in front of everyone here just at that glance that Henry gave you. Wow. I think that's incredibly appropriate because it's... From Henry's perspective, it's important to remember. It's like, yeah, you're big and bad, but bro, I've known you since third grade. And I was there for everything that went down last season. I was at the field trip. I was there. I've seen you get punked and you ain't so bad. That's right. You have an opportunity to avoid a darker self, unless you really feel like... I don't... I just wanna be... I've put you into darker self before, I think I have the most out of anything in our group. So I wanna give you an opportunity to... Most fun to make werewolves transform. I know! We haven't had what we really haven't had that. That's true. So I don't want it to feel like... Actually, I just obviously don't give... I'm like, yeah, this happens. What if making the keep your cold just means he can run out before he transforms? That's what I'm trying to say, 'cause you aren't gonna transform. So in order to get to evade too much scrutiny, too much, there's still gonna be some. Let's try to keep your cool. Okay. Okay. So I feel like... I mean, could it be volatile since he's trying to get out of there? Run away? Yeah. Okay. Because the idea is he's not gonna stop drinking. Oh, thank you! Yeah. Run away. Yeah. Okay. Let's do a runaway roll. Roll a bottle. Okay. Thank you, reading. Well, I mean, and it would be super interesting to do the full-on transformation in front of everybody. I mean, that's the thing if you want to just transform. I mean, yeah, I mean, it's not that I'm just saying that that would be... There would have to be consequences for that. Oh, there would be, and I don't know how much. I just want to give you a chance to possibly give you another chance to maybe not follow my example. Oh, I do think that running outside is definitely in line with failing my shutdown roll. I get shut down myself, and now, much like Cora flustered books it, Riley flustered books it. I can see the ending for every character that is running out of this. That would be hilarious. I mean, it would be very fun. So let's try to run away. The answer is yes. He's mad dogging you. So Henry is mad dogging you. Henry is mad dogging you. What are you gonna do? It's like he just won't stop staring at you. And there's a valuable lesson today. Yeah. And he's just unflappable, which is like whoa, you know, it's a simple human courage goes a long way. Yeah. It's like a little dog yapping at a bear or something, you know. Yeah. I could see that like fearless, but I also feel like his ancestors are just like having his back like, yeah, just keep staring at this guy. Giving him extra gumption, he's extra gumption. Right. All right. So checks out. Okay. See what we got. Marshall. Okay. Suddenly needs some air. Yeah. Okay. So what are we doing? All right. So you get away, but choose you run into something where it's a cosmic scene or you leave something behind and I have a thought of how this actually happens, but you choose. Whatever those, which of those three appeal. My favorite is run into something worse, but I also like cause a big scene. What are you going to do? Given the socially charged nature of this scene that's been playing out, I think you cause a big scene is appropriate. I'm also interested in your idea, but I'm, I'm leaning pretty heavily cause a big scene. Oh, I mean, regardless, it's so funny of these tricks. I'm like, it's always going to be a big scene regardless if you leave something behind. If you run it into something worse, it's like a big scene, but I feel like all of these are a thing. So it's like a scene on a relative scale, like, yes, on a relative scale, what you would think. Exactly. So as you are feeling the darkest self starting to take over, Henry's gaze is just unflinching and shows this indomitable human spirit that is also kind of scary because it's like, well, wait, what is this? What is he going to do? And so you're feeling yourself getting bigger. You're feeling yourself starting to, to, to transform a little bit. And I would say that Dylan and Devin, I'm very curious what you're seeing in just a second, but how I picture this and, and Riley, you can, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel you're going through this frickin building. So you're rushing through the, the main sitting area, somehow get on stage, knock over the speakers, knock over the performer, then finding your way and clamoring your way over the counters to go through the kitchen and to find the best escape route out of the kitchen near the dumpsters and you're just running. I want to say with the hellmill scramble that takes place that you just described so adroitly at the end of it, everyone in the main room is, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, good heavens, right? And then all of that. But from the kitchen, there's all of the dishes shattering and the stainless steel clang, like, as he scrambles through there as well and that knocks over the, like, boom box that's playing mariachi music, yeah, because sincerely, I was going to say there's cursing in Spanish happenings charges out the back door and there's the final sound that you hear punctuating all of this is the dong as you face first into the side of the dumpster. I love that. I absolutely love that. Yeah. Like it's like a punctuation. I agree. And it actually shifts the dumpster a little, it moves the dumpster as though like you're moving a filing cabinet like the dumpster brand trash receptacle to the point where somebody like a, like a normal human might be able to move a small filing cabinet on wheels. It's almost the equivalent where you could push it that easily where it slides away. It's not bracing you at all. You run face first into it. That hurts. I think it knocks you out a little bit. And then when you wake up, you are in full wolf mode. Whoa. Nice. Okay. Days. Yeah. Yeah. But the transformation took place while you were unconscious. So you're laying next to this dumpster. Your body is transforming and you wake up in full wolf creature mode. Before we go into that, which will be kind of the wrapping up part with Devin and Dylan. What did you just see? And also, Henry, I'm going to have to ask you to interact on this too, funnily enough. So Dylan and Devin, what the heck did you just, what did you just witness? Well, so Henry and, Henry and Devin are both on the Monster Squad. They sure are. Yeah. Yeah. So Devin, what did you see? I, I mean, we've started going through some of the files and I know stories that I've heard from other folks on Monster Squad, but this is someone that Autumn cares about. So I don't know how much I believe some of the stuff that's in there yet. But as soon as this starts happening, I am like texting Autumn, and I'm also saying out loud, like, I'm sorry, I gave him the spicy milk. I didn't know the cinnamon allergy. That is a gap. You should have known. You should have known Devin. Oh, so you're texting Autumn. Okay. And of course, we've established Devin's texts, our paragraphs. Yes. So it's like, I don't know. If it was the fact that the milk was too spicy, but we were at Chars and Clay and he hasn't performed yet, but then Henry looked at him and he got really freaked out and knocked a bunch of stuff over. And I don't know where he is now. I love that so much. All right. So Autumn, you're getting this text and we'll get to you in just a bit. But Dylan, what the heck did you just see? Because you were mostly fixated on Riley because for cool points. Yeah, exactly. So how much of the transformation happened inside the shop, I guess, is Michael. His eyes shifted and he was getting bigger somehow. He was getting bigger somehow. Okay, so yeah, so I'm definitely in that pretty stereotypical, like all of the artifice and this sort of assumed persona that I project just immediately melts away. And suddenly, Devin's like my best friend again, and I'm like, "Holy shit, Devin, what the hell was that?" And I'm just really freaked out by the whole thing. Devin, what do you say? Yeah, I'm sorry, that might have been my fault. Like, don't worry about it. It was you. Okay, so Henry, you walk up to Devin, what do you do? I'm in the process of putting my backpack on, not because I'm leaving, my computers and stuff like that. And there's still some books and one on the table that I was camping, but I'm keeping my backpack on me. So I'm in the process of putting it on as I talk to Devin in Dylan. It's like, you guys wild night, huh, and I'll look at Dylan because Dylan's not in the monster store. Yeah, no, he's not. No, but he's under Cora's spell. Yeah. Right. Cora is under Dylan's spell. Oh, sorry. That's true. It's a little mutual. He's trying to recruit Dylan into the, into the food. Yeah, it's like, we've been meeting and look, give Devin a significant look, hands on the straps. Kind of standing. A little call. She needs boy. I love it. Yeah. Right. And it's like, we've been meeting, there's a few of us now, and I think you should come and check it out because we're trying to explain stuff like that and get to the bottom of those things. We made a lot of progress. I think that it would be good for you, but also it could be a valuable addition. Oh, Henry, did you text Levi to tell him what happened? I think that I didn't tell him what happened, but I told him something happened. Like a little code word, maybe, like, you know, a location code for jars of clay to Levi. Okay. And then you won't believe in just that. Yeah. Okay. Cool. So Devin, you're hearing Henry say this to Dylan, Dylan, you're probably just shaking. Yeah. This is pretty fucking weird. Yeah. And then there's a commotion. We're trying to fix the, you know, Lebowski's trying to set the, the, the, the speaker up again. Maxine got hurt. She got banged against the, the register. No, all of us are upset with, you know, very upset. I know. So that's your blackjack moment right there. We're going to do that. I'm reading the stakes, baby. So you see some of the kitchen staff and the cooks, the cookies that they're coming out. Like, what the fuck was that? And so all this commotion's happening and so Devin, you send that information to autumn. You're hearing Henry basically inviting Dylan to be part of this group and Dylan's just shaking. So what do you do, Devin? Yeah. I mean, Dylan and I were friends once, but as far as Devin's concerned, you never really lose a friend. You know, they just go through seasons and that's okay. So you turn to Dylan and be like, yeah, yeah, and you listen to his mom. That's right. And yeah, just seeing that Dylan so shaken, he's like, yeah, I mean, the great thing about the snakes is we have each other's back. And so you wouldn't be alone. So that takes me out of my shakiness a little bit because I'm like, snakes? That's a cool name. Yeah, we're pretty cool. My mom made pizza rolls. And I get my little pocket comb out and I do like, you know, get the hair back in place. Yeah. Yeah. It was the switch. Oh, the switch blade. Oh, it's like, oh, so you're probably the butterfly comb. Oh, so you do that. And so, and so you all are kind of like just basking in this kind of like possible shared experience of what's going to happen next. Devin, your phone buzzes back with a response from Autumn, which we will get to. But Riley, you are in darkest stuff. What do you do? The sun is going down. Having completed the transformation as stationary way is something pretty new for Riley. Yeah. Because normally it's very active, very volatile. And so this is the first time he's kind of been out of it for that. So he wakes up and then the clothes, almost shredded and covered in this gopets of viscous goo. And I think the first thing that he would do, the first thing that I would do, my darkest self, that's right, evil must be hunted down with ruthless visions would be to gaze into the abyss. Let's do it. Let's do it. Because that moon is coming up and Henry's look was just reminding you of all the evil that Lucy and has done, who I'm sure will have a case against us for bringing this even up. He doesn't like to be reminded of the evil he's committed, but we all know he has done. So what? I think there's going to be a sprinkle of that in Riley's as well, you know, because it's a fact that Riley people get hurt, you know, like the Aubrey Plaza cashier that everybody is with. But she's just too good for Maxie. Maxie. Yeah. Okay. Gaze into the abyss. Let's do this. Look, man. I only want to know one thing. Oh. What is it? There they are. Where is he? Where is he? I'm trying to do my best Batman. Where is he? Yeah. It's not better. Better. Where are they? Are they? Okay. So. Cocky pants. Yeah. Storms coming. All right. So like listen to Batman, guys, if you haven't already. Okay. So where is he? He, I assume, is Lucian. Correct. Correct. That is the most obvious, if misguided target. So well, I don't know if it's entirely misguided. I think it's, it's legitimate. So you're looking-- It's more feral. It's more volatile. You know, it's not all politic and planning and strategy. No, absolutely not. It's just like I need to get rid of evil. And that's a very easy place to access. So let's do this. It's dark itself. It's where wolf-- It is. So you're, so you're looking at the moon and the moon is just reminding you of like Lucian's very pale skin and just like, where is it? And you catch a scent on the wind that you've mentioned before, that coppery, jasmine smell. And it is somehow the slightest little threat of that is haunting you on the wind and you start moving in the direction of this scent. And you are tracking, you're visualizing where you need to go next as you're looking up at the moon. And it's taking you to a lot of different places throughout the Nuevo. I'm trying to think of-- it's a predator. Yeah, it's making me think of predator. I guess there's a predator on the mind this week. So I don't know why. Dillion. Exhale that too. And some of a beach. But it's like the predator like looking for-- like you're looking for something, right? And you're like going through these winding trails and through the trees and the moon lights coming through the trees and you're getting the smells getting stronger and stronger and stronger. And it leads you to crossroads. That's a place where you've never been, where you don't know how you got there. The smell is very strong, but it's on the top of this hill and the moon is shining down on you. And you're able to then see most of the town, but mostly the Nuevo. And it's just blindingly white in the moonlight. This representation of everything that is being gentrified in the Nuevo, how it is being exploited. And there's a string pulling you there. And there's another string-- again, it's a crossroads, a string that's pulling you deeper into the forest where the mines are. But the Nuevo has a stronger draw. The scent is stronger there of what needs to happen. And it doesn't-- not necessarily like it involves Lucian, but it involves what his whole family has caused so far for your people and other people who are being exploited in this community. And so it draws you to that-- and the vision sort of fades, and you start to move into the direction of the Nuevo. OK, meh. So what do you do? So there's a lot of running across rooftops, leaping across gaps between buildings. Doing that cool thing where you catch like a telephone pole to swing down mid-air and change the direction so you can go another direction because the Riley darkest self these days is not as chaotic as it used to be. And so there's a lot of chasing down the scent. And it's difficult because his prey, his quarry, lives here. So there's a lot of separating the grain from the chaff going on. And ends up passing through a lot of backyards, maybe stopping to really catch the scent and stuff like that. And there's like a little dog barking at him and stuff like that and he's like looking at it and then just like leaving and it like runs back inside like that's right bitch, it runs back and have you defended this territory. Right. Very chuffed. Another chuffed little bean. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So where do you end up? You're up dead. On the outskirts of town, going towards where the-- I want to say it, and again, if this isn't in line with what my vision's-- Well, so I gave you a confusing and alarming vision. But it's what you can choose whatever you want to do with that. The crossroads are the roads that used to be more regularly used but have fallen into disuse except for construction vehicles and similar because it is where the chateau was leveled and there's the sign out there, you know, coming soon the new estates and stuff like that. Okay. It has that kind of vibe to it where it's just been a wiped clean and these roads used to be half sides of the ship and now it's just barren, you know, and the way that the dirt isn't really soil there and there's lots of concrete and stuff like that reflecting in the moonlight is very bright, brighter than normally would be if there was grass and trees and things of that nature. Okay. You know, and the pritter naturally flat, and the crossroads seem to go off into four directions to infinity. Mm-hmm. Okay. Great. And so you are there and having to make a decision and I think that is a good place to leave it in terms of what you actually got up to. We can delve into that another time if it feels relevant. So cool. And that ends Riley's interlude. We'll delve into that next time in Lucian's here and Riley attacks him. Oh my God. Well, we shall see. I said that. I don't know who said that. That was weird. So, all right, let's take another five and then we will get into Autumn's interlude. Okay. Cool. I was thinking just real quick, is there a condition appropriate? For Riley or not with the three main witnesses and then yeah, when you think that's appropriate or not, but you have a ton of conditions. You have so many as many as me. Oh, true. Okay. Devon and Dylan and even Henry can replace one, you know, no, I don't know actually in mind. Well, what are your current conditions? Juvenile delinquent, tough guy, stupider than he looks and fake. So I wonder, I don't think he's fake anymore. If fake evaporates and he's at least with something. According. Yeah. Well, certainly, yeah, because conditions can be erased just from action. So that would definitely fit. Yeah. I don't think he's fake anymore. You haven't really gotten into any petty crimes. So I feel like juvenile delinquent doesn't apply anymore. No, I mean, he just broke everything. Oh, shit. He's been injured somebody. Sorry. Never mind. It's back in play. I was doing so well. Yes. I almost lost that condition. So close. All right. So within five seconds, I'm wrong in that that makes sense. And then you're still a little stupider than you look sometimes, but not really because you've been showing a lot of emotional intelligence. So I don't know. What does the group think as far as super than you look? Yeah. Yeah. I could be. Yeah. It could be flipped. You pulled that move against the sea king best at him and was like, Hey, actually, this is the thing. What do you think about so this is for the good determine? I don't really. I think stupider than he looks helped people behave more comfortably around you because you're kind of more him, both styled, but you haven't been acting that way lately. You've been acting very that's true. That's true. It's true. Yeah. And so I think people would see you as more dangerous now, not more like like they can pull it over on you. So I think we can let that one dissolve and fake also autumn tagged him with that. And that was before they started having the relationship out. So is Riley still fake or is he just authentically himself? Fake. What was that? Yeah. Is he fake? I don't. That's the, he's been too wild. I feel like too feral to be fake. I agree. I feel like I would remove fake. So now you just have, what, and tough guy, I still think tough guy checks out, but this is monstrous. This is scary. So what did Devin and Dylan all give you to the floor to suss out a phrase that might work? Well, scary. I think could be. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Scary. Scarrifying. Yeah, I think scary is good. Okay. So you have a scary condition. No. All right. Cool. All right. So let's get into autumn. It's the same day. It doesn't necessarily have to be same place or whatever, but if you can think of a way to justify being out in the evening, we can work with that. Might be fun. Mm hmm. Yeah. And in this case, we have Henry and Devin again. So I think I'm on the boardwalk at historic Old Nuevo. Okay. Okay. And that's probably a couple blocks away from jars of clay. Sure. Yeah. And can you see the new vote from there? I think so. Yeah. Okay. Kind of on the on the far curve of the bay. Yeah. Yeah. It kind of curves in. So what are you doing there? Oh, what am I doing there? I mean, Riley's doing his open mic thing. Mm hmm. And I think I'm not with him because we got in an argument again. Oh, no. What's right about this time? Yeah. We fought because he left me on red. Even though he was in class and I thought that was. But you noticed that he texted other people. I just, well, it's like, you can't leave me on red. Being in class is not an excuse for leaving me on red. Of course. You know, you fucking, you answered that text message. What did you text him? What did you want to know? Like, what did you? Uh, probably something like completely banal. Oh, it was probably like super sad, like looking forward to your open mic night. Oh, my God, and nothing. And then he left me on red and I'm like, fuck you. But replied to Devin, offering a go. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I like the idea that he accidentally sent Ottom's reply to Devin and that's how they ended up coordinating. Oh, like he said, oh, thanks, babe, to Devin. Thanks, babe. What the hell? Thanks, babe. Devin's like, I just tracked it with, like, oh, yeah, well, you're welcome in. Oh, and then then they got to talk. I meant to send out the autumn, bro. Yeah. She was saying, like, open mic night and then, oh, you have an open mic night and it kind of went from there. Yeah. I love that. That's so good. For God. That's so good. Okay. So, autumn, your piss. You're on the boardwalk. Pouting. Definitely. Pouting. I'm just, yeah. Devin, Devin. Well, we got to get into what you're wearing, but Devin, did you text on them to let her know, hey, I'm going to be bonding with Riley tonight or? What did she say? Okay. So, yeah. Say more of it. Oh, I can't just say one word. I'm instead. Okay. Never. Never. Yeah. You know, I probably sent this obviously a huge text message just in case we're having a snakes meeting. I will be busy from this time to this time because I told Riley I would support him at his open mic tonight and my mom said that I could get us some drinks because I know he's important to you and I want to make sure that I'm there for him too. I'm quick. Yeah. Oh, what did you make of this? Did you leave Devin on red? Yes. I did. Sure. It's funny. I'm used to it. It's fine. Oh. Yeah. I'm like, you read it. Awesome. Yeah. The reading is enough. So, it's not. Santi, what did you say? You have to pay the abuse forward. Oh my God. That's right. Oh my God. You're very healthy. Very healthy. All right. So, so Autumn, you read this from Devin and what do you think? What are your thoughts here? All right. So, wait, you said we're going to get into what I'm wearing first. Okay. We'll do that first and then we'll get into your thoughts. Okay. So, what's priorities? We got to establish. Priorities. Yes. All right. So, who wants to roll the D20 for my T-shirt table? Oh, I think I'm up. So, yeah. All right. D20. I ate. I ate. I ate. All right. All right. That's not one that is the Ocho. Okay. All right. So, it's my usual ensemble of jeans and Doc Martens and I think today we're just going with a denim jacket, not my dad's. Okay. Fishing jacket. Yeah. And so, if you were to walk up to me and see the T-shirt under the denim jacket, it's got a big doberman sort of barking at you and there's like chains around it and it says in like stencil lettering, I'm just here for the busy. Oh my goodness. Nice. Awesome. Nice. Wow. Me too. That's a wild design. That is an amazing design. I like that a lot, actually. Okay. Wow. Wow. All right. So, the funny thing is I'm making a mix of songs based on her shirts, you know? Like so for every shirt she wears, I had a song to the mix, which is why I'm so insistent on finding out the shirts, you know, so I can add to the mix. I don't know what song is going to go with this one. I really love it. Oh, you'll figure it out. Yeah. I'll figure it out, but yeah. Right. Now you have like no clue. Okay. No. So, Autumn, you get this from Devon. What do you do? You leave them on red, but why? Why don't you respond? Do you usually respond to Devon's texts or what? So, this is the text about, this is the text about going to jars of clay, not the text about, hey, Riley, just turn into werewolf. Not yet. No. Okay. This is the initial. So, why do I leave them on red? Do you say? Yeah. Mostly, just because to acknowledge Devon going is to lend a tacit support to Riley, and I'm being that petty. I love it. I love as well as a petty because if, because if I responded, then I know Devon well enough to know he might say something to Riley and then Riley would like be able to vicariously experience me texting him, you know, the wild, I love it. Oh, the petty house is so good. So, you are at the boardwalk walking around. And what are you doing there? I mean, the tourist season is starting up a little bit, there's a little more people than usual, but not, not wild, but you're noticing more, a little more out of towners. I'm noticing these out of towners and maybe I came here because I'm in a bad mood. And I knew this would just make me even more pissed off, you know, yeah, because I hate seeing all these tourists coming in. I'm probably giving tourist dirty looks and stuff, you know, leading up to abalone days. So, that's right. We are going to go to abalone days. Oh my goodness. Oh, interesting how that's happened, isn't it? All right. So, it's very interesting. There's somebody that catches your eye, they just don't belong. Hmm. Okay. In what way do they not belong? They're just really not supposed to be there. Hey, is that just a feeling I'm getting or is there something about there? It's a very strong feeling that this person. But there's nothing about them physically that's saying that. If you've looked at them and it just looked like a bog standard tourist, nobody would really comment on them. They're fairly benign looking, but something is going off in your body or your brain or your energy fields, wherever you get that feeling, they do not belong here and they're in the wrong place. What do you do? I'm going to start following them. You are walking down the boardwalk. They're just aimlessly looking at all the different exhibits. There's rides, there's games, there's little kiosks where people can buy different trash keys. There's a guy, there's the iguana selling dude, still there, bring it back as iguanas, which he has no right to be selling to anyone under those circumstances, and there's a guy just talking to people about the bracelets that he's selling. They're sort of a vicious weed being sold, other drugs, and you're watching this person just taking it all in. What do you do? Well, I'm thinking I should gaze into this. Hmm. That'd be appropriate. Yeah, sure, what are you looking for? Anything, I'm looking for dirt on this person. Dirt, okay. So can you remind us your Cerberus moves and what a Cerberus does? I exist in a liminal space between two communities. One is resplendent with light, the other is damned to the shadows that is my duty to guard the boundary. Mark experience whenever I weed out someone on the wrong side of the divide and put them in their place. I'm trying to weed out the sky for some thing entity, and see if they need to be put in their place or not, I suppose. Yeah. Okay, so you want to know why are they out of place? Yeah, which side of the divide did they belong on, I guess? Is that reasonable? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, go for it. You're going to roll it down. So let's say, where do you stand? And since I am taking advantage of my dig deeper move, I get to add one. So at least makes it a straight roll. Okay. Fail. That's a fail. That's a fail. 666. We did it. Everybody. Yeah. So. Everyone, we did it. Everyone. Yeah, we did it. We did it. And so as you are getting closer, you're seeing children run up to him and hug him. And he takes their hands and he's showing them different things and walks over to a little goldfish ping pong game where if you throw the ping pong into the goldfish bowl, you get a goldfish. And they're just laughing and chatting and the feeling just goes away. So what's the Cerberus' darker self? Hmm. I do my best to be a good person, but I come from a very bad place. Let's face it. I'm a mangy, unlovable beast from hell. I was born to snarl and bite. Anyone who's gotten close to me needs to be driven away violently, if necessary. I must return to the shadows, dragging the damned back down there with me. I escape my darkest self when disrupted by virtuous hero or when the power of true love tempers my resolve. Okay, so you're seeing these children interact with their dad, presumably. And it's just reminding you of what you were deprived of and where is your dad anyway? And what happened to him and didn't Cora say that she would help you find him? And even if it's to settle the score to get him to where he needs to be, he's evading that justice. So you're thrust, as you're staring at these, this family, you're kind of just staring at the goldfish and the bowls and just how sad and trapped they are. And it makes you feel sad and trapped and in this deal that you made to come back when it feels claustrophobic and you have this feeling where, and I'm just saying for these visions quote unquote, they're not always visual. I feel like they're more like they can be auditory. They can be physical like where that you're feeling and then you kind of get thrust out of it, just a heads up there. If you feel like you're being deprived of a quote vision, I view vision as an all encompassing experience that it could just be auditory and visual or just visual or you know, I'm just trying to describe just to kind of a little insight into my process that nobody asked for. So anyway, so you're suddenly feeling like you're underwater again and you feel as though you're chained underwater and just floating with the current and the tide. You're not allowed to go anywhere, you're just stuck to this chain and you're stuck underwater and you see a figure walking towards you from the distance as you're maybe trying to go for your ankle to remove the chain to swim to the surface but you can't and it's not and you feel like you're suffocating like you're starting to drown even though it's not possible but it feels like just constantly drowning and then your phone buzzes. And it's from, am I in darkest self at this point? Yeah. And your phone buzzes and it's from Devon saying that something's happened. So Devon, what did you text to? Oh wait, did Henry text autumn or did Devon text autumn? Devon. Devon. Okay. So Devon, what did you send to autumn? It said that it wasn't sure if it was the spicy milk, but yeah, that's right. Riley kind of freaked out and knocked everything over and things hurt Max and went out the back of the place and I don't know where he is, but he didn't play his song yet. And yeah, I love that detail. All right. So autumn, what do you do? So unlike Devon, I'm one of these people who like fires off like a million texts, right? Like every sentence is a text. Yeah. And so the first text is he hurt Max and then, and then just, and then the second text is he needs to be stopped. What? Whoa. I could mean that in a number of different ways. I'm just. I know. So what do you do in Cerberus? So and then, and then third text is, are you still at jars of clay? Yeah, you know, half the snakes are here. Do you want me to call the rest of them? I'll say yes. And then I'll just do the O M W. Oh, okay. So all points bulletin code. What's the code for the snakes to convene? Oh, man. I'm like, what's the snake equivalent of a rat king fish? I don't know. Doesn't have to be anything elaborate. Yeah. I could just be snake emojis. Yeah. There we go. Three snake emojis. I love that. Yes. Three snake emojis. Okay. The number of emojis is how urgent it is. Oh, so how many? How many snakes are there? So it could be one it could be one snake, one emoji for every snake that needs to show up. So, you know, yeah, whole gang number of snakes. Yeah. So let's let's recount who's in this gang. So we have Levi. We have Devin. Yeah. We have Henry. We have Zann. And now possibly Dylan possibly Dylan, although autumn is not vetted this choice yet. No, not yet. So technically four. So right. Or is there somebody else I'm missing? No. Yeah. Four. Cora is like a, you know, it was going to be grandfathered in, right? Yeah. Right. Right. No, no. I just. I'm just annoying. Yeah. Right. And then the other, the other thing that's like standard, standard operating procedure is like wherever the meeting is supposed to happen, the person who's there drops a pin into the chat, you know. Love it. Okay. The snakes are arriving. And so autumn, how do you get to jars of clay? Well, you said it's nearby, right? I'll just take the most direct route to get there. Okay. Before you know it, you get to jars of clay. But how do you see the world when you're in darkest self? What does it look like? How does it feel? Yeah, it's more about how it feels and how it looks. So basically just anyone who gets in my way is going to get at least snarled at, if not at outright snapped at, you know, what I do straight away is I just walk straight past that dad and his kids and kind of knock into him a little bit as I walk between him and his kids, such that it sort of just completely shits on their whole moment that they're having made. Yeah. You know, and then yeah, so just likewise, anyone who, anyone who gets in my way is going to get. Okay. So, so security is, is tailing you. Nice of them to have a boardwalk security there. Yeah. You get the shit. They can tell me until I leave the, leave the premises, you know, they do. And maybe I'll even give them a, give them the middle finger over the shoulder as I cross the street, you know, it's super edgy, both of them. Definitely. Yeah. Definitely a double bird. So, so before you know it, you're at Jersey Clay walk inside and you see things seem fairly more calm. New people have come in and there's somebody performing, but the speakers are off. It's just one speaker versus two. So it's a little more muted. The mood seems a little shaky and you can see that Labowski's work in the register. I'm just, that's just what I'm calling him. I know. It's all right. But I'm just, so he's working the register. I kind of like that actually, like even though he looks like the dude, everyone just kind of secretly calls him Labowski. Exactly. Entirely correct. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. And Maxine is nowhere to be found, but Labowski's work in the register and things seem to be chill. So you see Zann Levi, Henry, Devon and weirdly Dylan is there as well. So then they've pushed some tables together and they're drinking variations on spicy milk that Devon has recommended to them to have and yeah, you see your gang and how do you feel when you see them? I do feel good about the gang because I think they're the only ones I feel like I can rely on. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to be nice to them, you know. Well, yeah. Okay. So yeah. It's an interesting question actually since, you know, my darkest self tells me to drive people away, but at the same time I like that's one of my advances is to have a gang, you know. Yeah. So it's interesting. But she has to show that yeah, they're a gang and there might be superficial connections, but it's not like these deeper connections of these quote unquote loved ones who like Riley or maybe Lucy and possibly right. So what do you do when you see them? How do you greet them? I just walk straight over after ascertaining that Max isn't anywhere to be seen with the brief plants. And I sit down and I say, tell me everything that happened. Okay. So who takes the lead on this Devon or Henry? I feel like Henry had that confidence. So probably. Good thing. Yeah. Probably Henry. Okay. So you recount what happens and. So Henry was looking straight at Riley, like, you guys are so so yeah, so Henry. So what? How do you describe this? We pull out the files on the backpack and shuffle through them, go to the Riley folder and there's photos, documents, newspaper clippings, all that kind of stuff and he would pull out one particular photo that is very grainy black and white, you know, blurry. So can't really tell a whole lot from it, but it does look like a creature of some sort of big and like, you can't tell if it's blurry or furry, but why blurry, blurry has blurred. Yeah. Right. But we think there's some suspicion that that's a photo of a creature that's closely associated with Riley and on the back when Sharpie, there's like Levi's handwriting, you know, Riley question mark, right? So he gets to that and he puts it down, he taps it one finger on the table and says, I don't, I don't know about you guys, but what I saw in those eyes, it looked a lot like something like this, they were glowing yellow gold and very penetrating with spiny fur seeming to poke out from the skin around them. And I'm not too proud to admit that I didn't look away, not because I am unafraid. I didn't look away because I couldn't. It was all I could do, not to piss myself and I think that that has something to do with what we're trying to figure out here, and y'all ever noticed whenever things kind of go sideways, Riley disappears and there's just a trail of bodies from here to 10 bug two, that can't be a coincidence. So Levi chimes in and says, look, I know there's something going on with him. I don't know what it is, but it's, whatever it is, it's scary and he needs to be stopped on him and I don't know, you guys are friends or whatever, but you really need to reconsider that. He's hurt a lot of people and so Levi's sitting next to Henry and he'll have some on the shoulder and he's like, it's okay that you were scared because, and he just trails off. So Autumn, Devan, do you want to just chime in about what you saw? I think the only thing I would add is some like negative and knowing that Autumn, I don't know that they've been fighting or whatever, I just like, yeah, yeah, but I would just add like, well, I mean, it seemed like he was trying to get out of here and not hurt anybody. I don't think he was very successful, but it didn't seem like he was, you know, trying to attack us or anything. So I say, Riley never tries to hurt him, but somehow, and I sort of nod at Henry and Levi and I say, somehow he always manages to anyway. But I pull the folder over and I look at it some more, I'm saying Riley's not really the one I'm trying to get. So Levi looks confused and a little mad. Devan and Henry, when you hear this, what do you think? I don't, I like how much of your plan have you shared with the snakes really? Yeah. We've just kind of been on the, all right, guys, we got to keep an eye out kind of thing. Like, let's report back to each other sort of thing, you know, okay. Let's put this on the table here. I think that Henry saw a little something else as well. Well, everyone was running around bumping. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of what I thought. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Right. I think he went over. That Riley took, kind of traced him out, right? And he saw the leftovers after Riley fled, right, saw the tail end of the leavings of the transformation there and was either recording or taking pictures of it on his. I like that. I'm cool with that. I like the idea to like, I don't know, it's making me think of, oh, I don't want to think about it. Again, I'm all whole and drive when they're approaching the dumpster. Ah, okay. Is it? I'm just thinking, I don't let's, I know gifts of the, I'm serious about this. No gifts. No gifts. No reference to this. Hell to the fucking no. Okay. But you know what I'm saying? Like, I could picture Henry waiting inside of the kitchen of the coffee house waiting until he's like, I think this is probably gone and I don't know what I'm going to see when I open up this door. And then he finally does it after a couple minutes and then sees what you're just describing son to you like that. He's just building up the courage to finally look outside because he knows he's gonna, but it's just the best. Yeah, because the door is partially open. It's open. Yeah. It's not. No, it's just slammed open, slammed back and then swung back and I love that he's going to like show this to the fruit and what, how does it actually show up because I love the idea of the supernatural and the digital kind of like bucking with each other and clashing and not. Right. So Henry, do you start showing them or like telling them like, hey, okay, but when Autumn's like, you know, why is not really the one I'm after, you know, he's not my target. Yeah. Right. What do you mean target? I mean, yeah, it'd be like, really check this out. I mean, pull out his phone and show whatever he has the footage or the pictures that you can swipe through. Don't swipe too far. But look at these pictures. Oh my God. That's what tied is for Jesus Christ. All right. So Autumn Henry shows you this video. And so what do you see? Well, I'm sure it's very chaotic, very shaky, but I see something that I see the dumpsters right? Is it? It was it was by the dumpsters. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Let's make it, you know, as scary as possible, you know, first person shaky cam. So you see the hand come into frame and push the door, open, slowly, don't know what you're going to see back there. And then what Henry saw was the last bit of like goo and in and stuff and hair sublimating into the ether spirit energy into ether. Right. So this isn't this isn't anything I haven't seen before. Okay. You know, Devin, Devin, you're also seeing this too. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, but I do know that at this point, it's like the jig is up, you know, like that's pretty indisputable evidence right there. And I've been grooming these guys, not that way to be monster hunters. And so that's a monster. It's kind of glitchy. Yeah. kind of grainy. The light is shit. Yeah. If you just have the light from the kitchen behind Henry who's blocking, right? Yeah. So all of these factors are coming into it. Right. So autumn, but you recognize it. Cause like you said, you have seen this before, whereas Henry and Devin. So Devin, you see this too. What do you make of what you're looking at? I think, you know, Devin has to work hard to keep his spicy milk down. Oh God. It's, it's. Right. And it's scary. Yeah. You know, but I told Autumn, I had to help her be there for whatever she needed. And it seems like this is what I've been training for. Mm hmm. All right. Autumn, what do you do? So I just look at everyone and I say, are we ready to take down our first monster? Yeah. Right. What do you mean by that? Autumn, what? I want to find Riley. I want to track Riley. Oh my goodness. What? Is this just because he didn't invite you or you are really bad about being kind of spiraled out of control. It's true. You're in dark itself. Anyone quote anyone who's gotten close to you needs to be driven. So in a way, violently, if necessary. So this is a breakup. That's what you're saying. Possibly. Except, except I can escape my darkest hero when disrupted by, or dark itself is disrupted by a virtuous hero or when the power of true love tempers my resolve. So we're testing this, see, Riley's going to have a shot or Cora. We'll see. All right. Or Devin, or Devin, yeah, okay, so Devin's like, Oh, I think Cora is like, why am I in it? Yeah. Why am I in it? So all right. So we're going to track Riley. So how do you do that? I'm going to gaze into the abyss again. I've got my gang with me. You do? I also have a plus one forward on decoding contents of the folder, which I'd like to apply now if that's okay. You already have the folder. So what are you finding in there? What do you find in there? It might provide some clues as to where to look, you know, maybe some of these grainy photographs. You can see what's going, where, where the background is, and it's like, there's like a lot of fusions of locations and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Like a, like a born ultimatum kind of thing where it's like, Oh, that's the sound of that particular fog horn at that particular dock. And I am also going to cause myself one harm by because even though I'm in dark as self, I am conflicted by this for two reasons. One, we're technically in a relationship. You know, don't call it that. It's a situation ship, but nevertheless, we're in it. And I do care for Riley and two, like I said, he's not my primary target. I'm mostly doing this just to get the gang used to this idea of like, all right, we're going to go out for some monsters, guys, because I know there's going to be some bigger fish to fry down the line, you know, I'm actually harmfully biting my nails. I'm drawing blood. Oh, more. Yeah. Okay. I like the cuticles and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Biting the cuticles. So all together. And oh, if I may go spend a string on Riley. Yeah, sure. I'm tracking him. Yeah. Cool. Can do that. Holy. All right. That's a five. Oh, no. Okay. And even so you could just get a partial, right? If I roll snake eyes, it will be a fail. Yeah. So, well, no, five plus two is because I'm at minus one dart, you see. Oh, that's right. But I mean, yeah, I meant plus five bonuses, that's why I'm going to say this. Okay. All right. All right. So let's see. Yeah. Okay. So I got that dog in me and snake power plus five, I got that snake in me. All right, here we go. Wait, what the hell? How did you roll? Does it work? How did you roll? Okay. I need to reroll that mess up because there's two. Yes. Oh, I put plus five. Oh, sorry. I actually just put five. Okay. So I actually rolled. We can just go with what I rolled. I just have to manual and math. What is it? Just put it. Just fine. Fine. I'll reroll. I'll reroll. I got that dog in me. Part two. And so I'm just hitting five, not plus five. Yes. There we go. Okay. 13, success. All right. All right. So you are. So this is Lucid Visions. Lucid Visions. Yeah, you are tearing into your cuticles and you're hearing Levi and Zam talking quietly and just like, yeah, we're finally going to get him. You got to get it. We got to get him out of here and like, he's going to pay like for what he did to your dad. You know, the mutterings and Henry is talking to Dylan, you know, and they're all talking and you're just tuning them all out and you're thinking about Riley and every moment that you've shared with him, even going back to your newer little, you know, and it's all converging into like this strong feeling where you have this like cord, right, that connects you to him. It feels different from the feeling you were having earlier of just like where someone belongs to when they don't, but it feels like the strong connection, like you can at least try to track him, right, and find him. So with that, you know where to go and you get up and what do you do and say follow me. All right. So everybody gets up and they're just following you. Devin, what do you think of this? I don't like how bloodthirsty the group seems to be, but I'm going with Autumn because I trust her. So I just have to see how this plays out. Okay. Henry, what are you thinking about this? Henry's the coolerhead striving to prevail in this scenario. He's going to say, look, I'm all in and Autumn, no, we got your back and he's going to pick up the blurry photo of the big creature. See the size of this thing throws the photo down on the table, like point at Dylan. What Dylan and Charles last year and Levi gesturing at Levi in his chair. I mean, bro, he doesn't want to say something insensitive, but also wants to point out that you are at a disadvantage in a physical altercation and just like, come on, we're going to go up against this and hold that up. Yeah. We're all going to die. Okay. And so Autumn, what do you do? I'm going to lean forward right into Henry's face and just be like, what part of monster hunting confuse you, you dumb fuck. And I will try and shut him down Devin, you're also witnessing this. I'm also a little pissed at Henry because before I died, he was kind of like, yeah, we go to Lucian, he's out of control, you know, and then yeah, we'll start at the last minute then too. So I'm just like, oh, I see how it is. I see how it is. Okay. So you're gaining some with you, huh, you still have your gang with you. That's what it's going to say. Do they add? Yeah. Okay. Yes. Because they got my back, right? Mm hmm. Okay. They're really surfing. So I got it. Devin's fair. Yeah, the majority is with you. Cool beans. All right. Here we go on the shutdown. Success. Mm hmm. So that's that Henry loses a string on you. If they have no strings on you, you gain a string on them Henry gains a condition or you take one forward. So what do I do? Hm. I have to just take one forward. That's what I'm going to do. You're going to take one forward. How do you express this success then? After I say that, I'm going to stand up, look at everyone else like I dare anyone else to say something, turn around and walk out. And whoever wants to follow me can follow me. So Henry, what do you do with that? Because Levi looks at you with a really baleful look and just rolls and follows Autumn and Zann just kind of looks at you and shakes their head and like follows Levi. And Devin, what do you do? I mean, as soon as Autumn starts walking, I'm I'm walking. Okay. And then Dylan. Dylan, what do you do? I know. Wait, what? What? What an introduction to the group. Yeah. We have a really great. I think I think Dylan. Check it out with us. I think Dylan at this point is just like, I don't even know what the hell is going. You know, my name, my name is Paul and this is between y'all kind of thing, you know, like. So where do you, where does Dylan go from here? Dylan is going to drop out of the story at this point. So, well, no, tell me what he does, like, where does he talk to Lebowski? He's good. No, I think he's going to go home. Okay. He's going to go home and he's just like, he means he has the things he needs to think about. Go talk to Lebowski. So did I win or? Yeah, so anyway, do I get the gift card or not? Yeah, exactly. Like, how's Maxine doing? Et cetera. All right. So, okay. So Dylan just packs up his stuff and just leaves, right? Yeah. He's seen way too much shit tonight. How did he get there? Did he walk there? Did he drive there? I kind of feel like New placenta Bay is a very walkable, especially the downtown area. Yeah. So he's walked. He walked. I think so. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's interesting. Okay. Yeah. Julie noted. So very vulnerable. Totally. I'd be playing a different student next week, guys. Just putting that out there. So Henry, what do you do after everyone walks away? Henry's flustered for the first time in this evening and for the first time in a while, but he packs up everything but leaves behind the newspaper clippings in the photo just on the table there. And it's the kind of run to catch up, which isn't a good look when you're screwing after your group. Yeah. It's a catch up. It's kind of shitty. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. They'll come around. They'll see. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, man. All right. So when you wake up in a pool of blood with your head on backwards, don't come crying to me. Exactly. It's kind of what's going through his head as he runs along afterwards. Mr. I told you so. Okay. So Autumn, where to next? The moon is up. Well, yeah. Do you go back to the dumpster to see if you can see any clues? What are you planning? Well, okay. So that would be my question is in terms of the lucid vision. Do I just know exactly where to go behind Riley? Yeah. Absolutely. Yep. And spirit bond. Yeah. That's right. That's right. Yeah. That's true. So yes, it like, you know, in the fiction, it'll kind of be like, yeah, I head out back. I look at the dumpster. I look at the Riley size dent in the side of it. I look up at the fucking roof lines because I immediately know like, okay, so I just start walking along. There's a bent light pole where he swung off of it and we're just walking. We just retrace those same steps. And of course, I want to say, Zann is documenting. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And even is fine if we want to go old school, go back to season one feels and yep, yep, yep. Get that going. So you're walking and you're being drawn to following paved paths, I guess, to a point where Devin might need to push Levi's chair instead of having him move it at times during certain parts of the the lock. And yeah, they're all very determined and quiet, very grim. And so you make your way to this clearing where the Chateau used to be. And the new Vaux is near there, right? You can see it glittering in the moonlight white and the ocean is loud in your ears. And something is drawing you, you feel this cord, right? That was connected to Riley. That gauge, that compass, whatever you want to call it is pulling you to the new Vaux. It's like, that's where you need to go. Not whatever this cord is. Okay. I'll follow it. Okay. So you all are walking Devin or Henry, do you have any questions for Autumn as you are moving toward the new Vaux? Yeah. Henry, you might just be pissed because you're like, I don't want to go to work. What the fuck? No, I'm kidding. I'm not picturing like it's like Dante promo. Not this place again. Yeah. Just like Dante and fricking Clark's like, I don't want to go back to work. All right. Sorry. Yeah. Okay. I have a lot of questions. Number one, how dare you? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, yeah. It is kind of that energy like, you know, we're like bustles past the rest of the group. So I'm giving them the side eye like you're still here situation, but ignore all of that catch up to Autumn. So what's your end game? You know, when we get where we're going, what's the plan? Yeah. Autumn, what do you do? Do you even respond? What do you do? This guy, this guy again, this fucking guy. Oh. Logic. Lash out physically. Shut him down. Keep your cool. What are you gonna do? You're pissed. You're in dark itself. Let's do forget. I know. I know. What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be? I mean, in darkest self language, my end game is I must return to the shadows dragging the damned back down there with me. I'm not gonna say that, but I am gonna say, Henry, I didn't come back to like get an A in history or get into college or run my own business or any of that bullshit. I came back here to sort some things out. And that's what I'm doing. And once I'm done, you're not gonna see me again. And I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure I don't take you down with me. But if that makes you uncomfortable, you should just turn around and be right. Wow. Wow. Are you? So now I'm gonna roll to turn him on. No. Oh, no, this is not Lucy. All right. Yeah, that's right. No, Kenny's not playing. That's right. I forgot. He's in play. Do you want to shut? Do you want to shut? I think that's another shutdown. It really is. So here we go again. And just remember this whole time I'm wearing a shirt that says I'm here for the busy. So I know we can't forget it. Can't stop thinking about that. It'll be here. Yeah. Well, my birthday is coming up. Yay. That's what I meant. It'll be there Thursday. Oh, thank you. Appreciate that. Okay. So I'm gonna burn that plus one. Forward that I got for the last time I shut them down. And do I get the gang bonus again or no? Yes. Okay. So that's a plus two. All right. Let's see how we do partial this time. Partial. Okay. Here we go again. Yeah, that would make sense. So you come across poorly and choose one from below. They lose a string on you. If you have no strings, you gain one on them. They take a condition. You take one forward. I'll get it. I have no strings on Henry. So I'll take a string on him this time. String on Henry and Henry, you give autumn a condition. So what is it? Okay. Am I misunderstanding conditions? They don't have to inherently be negative, right? No, they just are a descriptor of how this person is coming across, how they're perceived by the group. So what I'm getting from autumn now, as she's coming into her own with this, I'm getting relentless. I'm getting driven. Right. I'm getting. Okay. So I would say he's like a dog with a bone. Yeah. Tenacious. Tenacious chasing cars kind of thing. She doesn't necessarily know what she's going to do when she catches the fucking thing. Right. She is chasing that car. Right. I like that car. Yeah. Okay. I like that. So is chasing cars with the cars? I think it'd be awesome. Yeah. I would name car, car chaser. Yeah. Car chaser. I like that because it's like, even though you're kind of like, you're kind of amazed, like, whoa, why? Like what the heck? Cause that's, I think, autumn coming across poorly and also just like, whoa. But also like, it's dangerous. Yeah. Like, wow, you really are just going to go all the way on this. Going all in. It's just a hobby. No. This is serious. And there could be an end coming up soon. So Devin, you're overhearing this too. What do you think of this? I mean, it was established really in this season, like Devin knows that there's something wrong that autumn needs help fixing or getting away from. And so it seems like this is coming to a head, and I get it that not everyone in our group has the maturity to know how serious this is, you know? Yeah, you're not all like grown-ups like Lucian, right? I'm just going to sing to the record. So, you know, this is scary, but we can't let her do this alone. Wow, stalwart autumn. What do you want to do next? I, you know, I'm just following this thread that's leading me along, leading me along, and I'm just going to keep doing that until I get to where it leads me. Okay, so if that's the end of my interlude, that's fine, you know? No, you're continuing to walk. You're sometimes feeling like the string with Riley to be closer, and then sometimes it's further away, feels thinner, so he's definitely moving along, almost shadowing you in some ways, but going further afield and then getting closer. Even though I'm the dog in this metaphor, it's like when you're out with a dog, off-leash, walking on a private property or something, they'll sort of run ahead and disappear and then they'll come running back and check on you, and then they'll run ahead again. I like that visual, and I'll add, it's also like this larger predator is tracking you while you are moving along, so you're feeling the stronger draw as you get closer and closer to the new bow, to the point where you just walk up to go inside, and what do you do next? If that's where I'm being drawn, that's where I'm going to go. And so there's attendance in like a door man there, they're like, "I'm sorry, do you live here? I was looking at all of you, I feel like, what the hell?" And I'll say no, but we're friends with someone who does. Who might that be? Coraline Moray. Let me just call up and check. Cora. Yup. Are you back home? God, worlds are colliding. I think I ran straight back, just like, crab ran all the way. Latina Belcher's style. Yeah. They keep that noise the whole way. It's like, yeah, and everyone's well, but, yeah, you go perfect. So, there's a call that comes directly to your line, and you've made it so that's the phone line that gets accessed usually when you're home, and it's the security saying, "Hello, you have some visitors here?" You didn't mention that you'd be having guests this evening. Oh, I apologize. Which people from the group are here? So they, just a moment, so they collected everyone's names, they tell you everyone who's there. Right. I know, Dylan is not in that list, I'm like, "Okay, everything's fine." I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you in advance. We just realized we didn't finish up a project for school. Would it be okay to let them up?" Sure thing. It's a problem. They hang up and you all get buzzed up to Cora's place. So I'm like, "Ooh, would you see what it is?" Yes. Yes. So what do I owe the pleasure? So you get to all go upstairs and knock on the door buzz, right, like, dinkly push the door buzz. I'm just very curious how Cora's, quote unquote, "parents" are going to affect her in the list. Oh, yes, yes. So, the door suddenly opens and you see, like, the most, I would say the closest to facsimile would be, like, Gwyneth Paltrow type looking mom. What? The middle. Cora ordered her parents off of Goop. Yes. Yeah. They're Goop-based. It's a relax from parents. So it's like a Gwyneth Paltrow looking kind of woman, right, who's, like, blonde, blonde hair part out in the middle, looks flawless, wearing a loose knit sweater and these wool slacks and, like, flats and, so she smiles at you, her eyes are, there's something off. Something just is off. And she smiles at you and says, "Oh, your Cora's friends come on in." And you all file into the room. And so the dad looks like, "I'm just trying to think it's just so random because I'm just picturing this whole family. Cora, please forgive me. So do you have someone in mind for your dad because I have an idea?" No, no. Go for it. Okay. So I'm picturing, like, you know, oh God, what's his name? Oh, God. Okay. Sorry. I don't know why his son... Can I be John Hamm? Because that would be funny. Oh, my God. It's like when I felt you're in John Hamm, like, I just said, "I love how he did too. I like that I did too." I was also thinking of, like, oh my God, why am I forgetting? It's like right on the tip of my tongue. Okay, wait. Yeah, Michael B. Jordan. Okay, I was thinking it's this interracial couple that's, like, adopting, like, an Asian baby. Like, if this is an ideal progressive family kind of thing. So he turns and he's sitting in a chair, you know, on his phone. And he turns and he says, "Oh, hi, I'm Cora's dad. She's right back there." And again, he seems great, but weird. There's just something off. There's no food. It's like, they're not even cleaning up from dinner. It's just there's something that's just very aesthetically strange that you're picking up on. But you file back. So, Cora, you can hear your parents or, like, welcoming your guests. So what do you do? Yeah, so I, like, open the door to the room where I am, which is also suspicious. I have a new surprise, but it's like a one bedroom apartment. Yeah. They have a bedroom. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, right away, I'm kind of like, "This doesn't seem as spacious as Lucian's apartment." You know? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. I love that note. Okay. So I'm just, like, it's best to leave them up front. Come on. Okay. So they all file into your bedroom. And so they're all standing in there. So Riley, I think it's safe to say that you've been tracking Autumn. You've been tracking her maybe a little bit, crossroads-wise. The vision was telling you the new vote might be the place to be. What do you do? What do you do with that information? Autumn's on the move. Where's that information going to go? Oh, come on. I know that that's where Marcel and Lucian live, so it checks out on that point. And then with Autumn being on the move and going there, it suggests that she is headed there for the same reason and just making a lot of assumptions. That must be where my quarry is gone to ground. So I would proceed there as well. Okay. So as you're getting closer to the new vote, remind me read through Jack's self-description again. Your territory is ancient and made sacrosanct by the blood of your people. You become a lupine avatar of bloody vengeance for the weak and the innocent. Evil must be hunted down with ruthless, brutal efficiency. You escape your dark self when the ephemeral peace is restored or the sun rises, whichever comes first. As you're realizing that Autumn is there, you feel the sense of reassurance. And you know that Cora is up there because by the time you get there, you are back in Riley form. Okay. You're back in human form because there is a sense of ephemeral peace. We know what we need to do and we're all converging in the same place. It's for a delicate, it's a, this is a tenuous piece. Exactly. Exactly. Precisely. Perfect way to describe it. So, you know Autumn is there. What do you do? It depends on where I ended up because you're at the quick bite because you're really hungry. Okay. Like a sighted eye. The quick bite in the new bow. Riley tends to endark his self. Yes. Yes. A few sidewalks and streets and stuff and it's all about rooftops and leap across things. So traveling there and then kind of transforming back and it happens to be the alley behind the quick bite. Super hungry, bare-ass naked. Exactly. Exactly. And the back entrance, somebody comes out to throw out some trash. So if you want to like, cital in there because there's a bunch of quick bite polos and uniforms and aprons and shit, it's like, well, yeah, the guy comes out to throw the trash away and Riley scurries in behind him on all fours, staying below the tops of the aisles of kit cats and talkies and all that kind of stuff and is doing the Kyle Reese shopping spree from the beginning a terminator, flip flops off the rack and holding up to the bottom of his foot, like, yep, cutting those on. Getting dressed as he goes along and ends up in front of the hot dog rollers and you know, rollers, all that kind of stuff and taking a nacho boat, right, and just filling it up with hot dogs on top of the chips, covering it with chili and cheese, and just like. Okay, diving right into it. Yeah, so obviously you've been kind of like, unbothered, right, until the security is standing near you and says, excuse me, kind of look like me bite, huh? Yeah, exactly. And so it's like, are you here to visit someone or what are you doing here? You're going to pay for that? And he'll kind of lower his impromptu giant nacho, chili, cheese, hot dog sandwich, take the last big swallow. Yeah, all my friends are here. Did they already go up? And so, so then another call to you, Cora, there's somebody downstairs at the quick bite and he says he's with your group. He looks a little worse for where you better come down here to just vouch for him. I'm not going to let him into the building. Yeah, sure. Nothing like turns group like, are you expecting someone else? Autumn, what do you do? My eyes definitely narrow and I say, maybe I should come down with you. Okay, so don't let your friends mess with anything. So I turned around like, nobody touches anything. Okay, and they were all like on the verge of touching something. Yeah, like, picking up remote controls and shit. Yeah, yeah. So don't use the parent remote, please. Oh my God, no, hide them. So you head downstairs and you're at the quick bite and there is Riley with some touristy clothes on. He is holding his, he's halfway almost done with his, you know, chili cheese, hot dog, extravaganza. And what do you do, Cora and Autumn when you see him? Oh, it's, it's just Riley. Right. Autumn, what do you do? I'm definitely scrutinizing him and I think now would be a really good time for Riley to try to turn on move and see if you can, what is this, see if he can temper my resolve with the power of true love. Okay. All right. Well, that's a good idea. That's right. All right. I think... What strings do I have? I have one string. No. No strings on Autumn. Okay, I am looking at my conditions here. I mean, car chaser. You could say that I finally caught the car. So yeah. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. I like that car. So there's a plus one for you right there. I'm supposed to be pursuing power. My pack doesn't really count in this scenario. Now. That's right. Let's see here. Can I give a plus one forward, because I have a plus one forward applied to Riley from my abyss gazing. True. That's true. Can we apply that? Yeah. I would say go for it. Okay. Yeah. All right. There you go. There's another plus one. Okay. Well, we've got a two here. Okay. So let's see what we got. We're doing good. We're doing good. We're doing great. It's going well. Cool. Ten success. Yeah. All right. So when you see Riley like this, he's just like the Riley that pulls at your heartstrings. So Riley, you do gain a string on autumn. And autumn, you give yourself to him, promise something that you think he wants, or gets embarrassed and act awkward. All right. So there's a brief moment, Riley, when you're looking at autumn. There's this moment where you think like this is more than just mad. What the fuck is this? But then suddenly that just breaks down and she rushes forward and it's a studio jibbly style embrace where I just go crashing into you, probably knock you back into that rack of shitty t-shirts and just start covering you in smooches. All right. What do you, Riley? What do you make of this? Well, it's actually saying that having the giant half eaten sandwich quote unquote sees autumn. I was like, oh, babe, how's it going? And it looks over at the shelf next to him, grabs a pack of the pink snowballs, like the pink coconut covered, like chocolate cream filled, you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. And holds it out snowball. Nice. And because in that intervening minute, like where he was like between Oh, hey, babe, blah, blah, blah, and snowball, he sees the like rage on autumn's face kind of manifesting, right? There's like three different faces, like warring with themselves before they kind of snap back and then she has her melting moment. Okay. After. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, attacks with kisses as opposed to horrible. Yeah. Cora, what do you make of this? I don't even know why they're here. That's true. Yeah. I kind of like that too. Yeah. So I think after the snooches, you're growing up in the elevator and Cora, do you have any questions for them? So why are you all here? How can I help you? It's a long elevator. Right. So you're right. We have established it's a slow elevator. So I'm out of my darkest self. So of course, at this point, at this point, like my whole reason for coming after Riley seems like so ludicrous and distant and like, Oh, none of that matters now. It's fine. You know, and so I just say, well, I think it's time. That we really did something about all of this. And I kind of look around the elevator and I say, and everything that Marcel's done to this town. Oh, all right. Yeah, that's the one, then there might be something I can do to help you with that. That's what I thought. So I might be able to help you with that. It doesn't come for free. And with that, the doors dinged and you're on Cora's floor and you head into her apartment and fade to black. Perfect. Okay. Masterful. All right. Can I get the feeling that both Ottoman Riley are both like yes, whatever you need, whatever it takes. Yeah, so that gets us to next time on Monster Hearts. Right. Next time on Monster Hearts. Yeah, next time on Monster Hearts, we're up in Cora's apartment, everyone's sort of sitting around on couches, armchairs, arms of armchairs, et cetera. And all eyes are on autumn. It's obvious that she just finished giving a little talk, sort of outlining things. And she says, so that's what that's what it's going to take. Who's in? And like all the snakes look totally pale like Devin Scott of, you know, tortilla chip halfway to his mouth, it's just kind of pause there, like he's just like forgot to take a bite. And there's just this really long pause as everyone's considering what autumn had just outlined. Nice. Very good. Who's next? Yeah. Next. Okay. Similar, but before this, I guess next time on Monster Hearts, I think we have established their weirdly fancy screens in each apartment. So like you see the screen in the background and showing that the elevator is on its way back up with the monsters in it. So all the snakes are just hanging out waiting and trying not to touch anything. And Levi rolls out into the living room to ask if they have any chips or anything like that. And so he rolls out and they're all just sitting there or standing. And when he comes in, they both sort of like turn to him, like automatically, and he's like, are there any like chips or snacks or anything? And the mother goes to the cabinet like, of course there is. I also have alkaline water with a squeeze of lemon if you prefer, when it's Paltrow thing to do. Nice. And like she brings over the unopened just bag of chips from the pantry to him and leans over to give it to him and smiling face and like a single tear just running down her cheek. Oh, fuck, that's dark. You're so good. They're not hollows. They're actual people. Oh, all right. Holy. Yeah. Oh, shit. Right there. Oh, yeah. All right. Oh, crap. Damn. I'm seeing. Yeah, I'm seeing like an Avengers, a fiddity war kind of array, right, wherever leaping in or flying in and activating their signature power stance, you know, because it's the whole team getting. Next time. This is the next time. Yeah. Next time you have autumn leaping off of a short wall and landing doing the superhero landing and behind her out of the shadows, all of the snakes walk up and they've got various gear and preparations with them. And then behind them, you just have this kind of demonic and appearance, but old white man with pretty naturally white, sharp teeth and impeccable hair with his arms spread out as if to embrace the entire gang all at once and he's just smiling, just disturbingly wicked way. And then you have Riley looking down, lit from the top, you know, very moonwalker kind of moment. And then behind that one by one yellow pairs of eyes open and illuminate from the darkness behind him. And then you see one by one, three more very distinct ones, as though they're much larger than those. And then you have Cora, oh my God, yeah, all of their splendor and glamour on that. There's almost a spotlight on them. And then behind them, you have a raid, the entire army of Atlantis with the king at its head. You know, so there's a lot of tridents and fins and seahorse mounts and things of that nature. Oh, God. Epic. And then in front of them, oh, basing, but like we don't know, turning the face or turning away, you have Lucian, who sparkles with a dark kind of energy, who's looking at this array and looking away at what they're facing and looking back as though torn. Oh, wow, oh my god, oh, yes, vampire sparkles. Yeah, always. Next time on Monster Hearts, Marcel is yet again in his office. I'm always doing Marcel in his office, but in his office, he's on the phone and you just see a close up to his mouth and he says, deals off. And he hits a button and that's that. So. All right. All right. Thanks. Thank you again for a truly epic and this was like an acrobatic act of like, holy. Yeah. How are you feeling? You did a great job. I don't. Oh, thank you. I don't even know how this happened, but I'll listen back and maybe try to figure it out, but you all did a great job interweaving your side characters, playing your main characters. I thought it was excellent role playing from each and every one of you. And yeah, I just appreciate this group so much. And we will see how Lucian weaves into this tale. I don't think I'm going to do a one off with him. So we're just going to have to work with him a little bit next time and see what happens, but we are definitely in we are in it. I'm also curious in terms of advances and stuff, like how far along are we with your levels? I was just looking at that actually. So I'm at four out of five XP and once I ding on that, I will have four advances. So I'm basically one one point one, you know, away from unfortunately hitting that fifth advance. Okay. Oh, another thing, Rainy, we were going to talk about your skill situation and this is just a learning curve thing. It's nothing bad. It has to do with where you start in the game versus starting the game. People who start with a new skin, new character, they're not starting at the same advantage point as you all are. So we'll talk about that next time. And yeah. So Cora, how are you doing on advances? I'm also at four out of five to get my next. All right. But then I will be at my third, and not my first. I'm one, yet again, somehow I'm out in front, I don't know how it is this season. Like every time. I know. I know. It's very odd. I know. And it is Santi, where are you at with that? I also am a four out of five experience to get my second advance this season. Okay. Interesting. Okay. All right. So the next time we play and thank you all. Thanks again. Bye. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our patrons, both past and present. And thanks, as always, to those of you backing us at priest level and above. That includes Jonathan Morgantini, Marley Griffin, Alexander Lanwett, Hunt Cal, James Gilbreth, Jathar 132, Max Wraith, Mika Tertiannon, and Jay Colton, and Tim Leonard. Thank you so much for your support. [BLANK_AUDIO]