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BBBC Reads Ward - Arc 13.1 - 13.7 - Black
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This story isn’t intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Worm a pass. Complete list of potential triggers: here
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The Brockton Bay Book Club discusses J.C. McCrae's Ward live! The gang reads a portion of Ward and comes together to share our thoughts with each other and anyone who want's to participate.
This week we cover Arc 13.1 - 13.7 - Black
Read along here
Play along with this week's BBBC BINGO while you listen!
Support us and connect with us @brocktonbaybc
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome tonight to the Brockton Bay Book Club. I have no intro because Nick was being goofy.
00:00:11
Speaker
yeah ah Something something about where your kids do you know where they are? You guys ready for an ultimate ladies night? There we go. Oh, no, no, no. can Contact ah your local, like, super divorce attorney. um There you go. There we go. Yeah. yeah and We're going have the ultimate girl sleepover here in Mega City where we read secret diaries, get together with our friends, and play with rats.
00:00:41
Speaker
Oh, man. I remember being a 13-year-old girl. Literally every sleepover I've ever been to. Anyway, welcome tonight. ah This is the Brockton Bay Book Club, a podcast where we read over ah Ward J.C. McRae, better known as Wildbo Online, a web serial about superheroes. It's the sequel to Worm. We go arc by arc, sometimes chapter by chapter, and discuss. It's a book club.
00:01:06
Speaker
And ah you can, of course, join us live on YouTube every week, good every other week, or whenever we feel like it. and ah also contribute on our Patreon to things like the bingo, which we'll be playing tonight.
00:01:21
Speaker
Link is in description. um But if you'd like to go ahead and just, you know, pop on over there for as little as a dollar a month, you can be one of our patrons. Hang out with us, talk with us, see some extra content, ah and tell us what we should or should not do ah when it comes to bingos and extra content.
Arc 13 Discussion and Character Development
00:01:39
Speaker
and We also have a bunch of spoiler chats for all the other Wildbow works that we sometimes post in. Join the community. Let's do it. Join the community. yeah um That being said, tonight we will be going over Arc 13, chapters 1 through 7.
00:01:58
Speaker
um After the tail end of last week being a back and forth between love hate and love, we'll see. Does this... live up to the momentum that we've been carrying over since the fall of cradle.
00:02:14
Speaker
So with that as our tone setter, let's hear some thoughts, Nick. Oh man. um I think because I did, I don't normally take such a long break between reading. I do try to spread it out like throughout between the weeks.
00:02:31
Speaker
But I did actually, i was really busy. So I just got to it yesterday. And i feel like this was a nice change of pace, actually, overall.
00:02:42
Speaker
um I really enjoyed these chapters. You know, again, maybe maybe a tad slow in points, but we are unlike some of the other chapters, which were more tense and action-based, this one felt like they did a lot more in a shorter amount. of like I don't know what it was, but something about it, although it was slower paced, felt like a lot more happened.
00:03:04
Speaker
Maybe it's just because it's a lot more conversation-based. There's a lot more um character development going on inside here. But ah I don't know. i really and I actually enjoyed this. I was into it. I wanted to keep reading.
00:03:17
Speaker
Nice. Hannah.
00:03:20
Speaker
ah I was on the edge of my seat. Could not stop reading. I ah normally just listen to the audiobook and I just listen while I work, but I started reading last night and like was was in bed like my eyes were hurting and I was so tired, but i was like, i I can't stop. Like, I gotta know.
00:03:45
Speaker
ah These have been, honestly, probably some of my favorite chapters in all of Ward thus far. ah I've... I don't know. i just... It's just been a lot of fun, and I'm really excited. And it feels like everything else has just been kind of like filler. And I don't know why, but it feels like we're finally...
00:04:13
Speaker
getting to it, but I can't... like Like, I can't put my finger on what exactly it is. Like, because it's all our favorite characters, and there are things that are happening, and we're investigating and whatnot.
00:04:24
Speaker
ah It just... I don't know. it I just... Yeah. yeah but I've loved reading these. Like, this has been so much fun thus far.
00:04:39
Speaker
Jacob. Yeah, it's nice that we're all on the same page here, because... I thought this was some of the strongest few chapters of work thus far, hands down. And I think, you know, ah it's funny as we're like thinking about it, I'm trying to think about why that was. um I think a few things. One, i think worm worm really benefited from having a lot of these like little mysteries in the background right because as you're reading it for the first time you don't know what the entities are you don't know what shards are and there's like you're trying to piece together what's going on and ward hasn't really had that little little bits of stuff but not really but these chapters like there's there's a myth there's something going on in the background and you're trying to
00:05:23
Speaker
put it together. And that's really fun as a reader, especially with this type of setting to just kind of be building towards that because then you can have a lot of fun with these like slice of life character moments because they're all sort of surrounded by the little bit of the mystery that's here. So everything sort of pushes in that direction, which lets those moments really contribute to the story rather than just feel like filler. Uh, so it's, yeah, it's, mean, it was like really, really fun to read. I just, I was having a blast. I was just, listened, if I'm not reading it, I listened to the audio book when I'm like cooking or doing something kind of long like that. And that's what it was. I was like cooking. and then I put something in the oven instead of just like going and doing something else, which i normally do. I was just like standing in my kitchen, just listening to the audio book as my stuff was baking, just like waiting. Yeah. This was, these were some great chapters.
00:06:15
Speaker
i I'm also trying to think, like, what makes it unique? um And having, you know, been reading Pale as well, I also got to what I would consider a god tier arc in that one.
00:06:26
Speaker
And made me think about this one a lot more. I think it's because something happens in every chapter. Something different. um A lot of times, we will get hung up on a fight for three straight chapters.
00:06:41
Speaker
um Which is part of a larger battle that has been taking, you know, minimum half the arc, if not the whole arc sometimes. um So it can get really boring, I think, with what's happening, what developments have happened.
00:06:59
Speaker
And in this, every single chapter has minimum one thing happen. You know, they go to a different scene, they go do something, and there is a reveal of some kind, whether it be how the universe is working, how socially things are developing, or how, like, what they're doing with the villains now and stuff
Victoria and Relationship Dynamics
00:07:24
Speaker
like that. Like, there's a new thing in every chapter.
00:07:29
Speaker
it feels fresh, feels good, um... Yeah, but yeah so far, might be my favorite arc. We'll see how the rest of it goes. It was very easy to read.
00:07:43
Speaker
um And and a lot there wasn't ah a whole lot of filler in it. There really wasn't. yeah One of my big complaints is about filler and didn't feel like there was a lot of that.
00:07:54
Speaker
One of the nice things, too, I think is... two additional positives for this arc so far is it plays up a couple of Victoria's other strengths that we haven't gotten to see as much. Number one is her ability to connect with people and how a lot of this is, hey, I've done this for you. like you know Whether it's talking to the Wardens, talking to Colt, talking to Jessica, talking to Tattletail, Foresight, Ratcatcher, all of those conversations feel like Victoria's built up this rapport with people you know in some way.
00:08:27
Speaker
um And so finally getting to play out that strength of those connections she's built is really rewarding. It also plays into her kind of nerd side too, which I don't think we've gotten to see as much and which is always really enjoyable when it comes up.
00:08:41
Speaker
Of her like, oh yeah, I know like this is the way these kind of people think or this is the way these heroes or shards tend to think. ah um you know master stranger protocols gets thrown out a whole bunch you know stuff like that where it's like okay stuff is happening and it feels like it's playing to her other strengths more than just her battle prowess which is we've seen a lot recently and that's great but getting to see more of her softer skills so to speak I really enjoyed too
00:09:11
Speaker
yeah i Yeah, I like how you say that that because it feels like she was brought onto this team to be a coach. That was her whole goal. And when she sort of started, she talked about like, hey, I'm not going to be technically Tristan's kind of the face, not necessarily the captain, but for lack of a better word. He's team lead.
00:09:34
Speaker
Team lead. And it feels like she has just usurped that position outright, kind of. um and sort of by necessity.
00:09:45
Speaker
ah but now we've come back to the port part where she's not the one. She is very active in what she's doing, but it is all coaching. It is a little bit of her detective but also mentoring chicken little, in a little way.
00:10:02
Speaker
Um, talk especially dealing with how to deal with Kenzie. And then she goes over and she has to negotiate this, you know, spat with the Weld and Sveta, who are both her friends, but also one's a teammate, one's a former teammate, you know, and we got to use the the language and the all this And then she goes over and, you know, she's trying, she's trying to coach rain on, or not coach rain, but like be there to talk with rain about how he feels about Colt.
00:10:32
Speaker
Like she is not the person dealing with the thing. She's like one step removed almost every time it feels like. And I really enjoy seeing her as a coach um in that role.
00:10:49
Speaker
It's yeah. It's what we brought her on for. It's what I'm here for.
00:10:57
Speaker
Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Well, shall we dive in? let's help Let's do it. Let's do it. Alrighty. 13.1. Victoria does her exercise routine.
00:11:14
Speaker
Byron and Moonsong break up. Vicky, Vista, and Sveta talk about bodies and boys, and four parahumans get disappeared to a locked-off world.
00:11:29
Speaker
Oh, okay. i put Sorry, I had read your your chapter's summaries before starting, and I was like, I couldn't for the life of me remember what the four parahumans get disappeared. but but those those are the criminals right yeah those are the poor criminals i was so lost yeah like no no what did i forget to read okay yeah yeah yeah um yeah little little fun a lot of again it's that like little fun slice of life moments right getting to see victoria yes with her physiotherapy journal and exercises right getting you know marking down stuff like that the
00:12:06
Speaker
doing what friends do watching one of their friends with a girl of like, oh, what do he read the body language? think is happening? Yeah. Yeah. Literally a breakup. Like, come on, guys.
00:12:17
Speaker
And Rain's like, no, no, no, no. I think I think he's going to seal the deal. up ah Rain. Rain. Oh, Rain. No. He got the ability to barely do anything and he lost the ability to do anything.
00:12:31
Speaker
Yeah, he's still only a couple weeks post-Cult. We've got to give him some time. Jesus, I don't want to hear about but the timeline again. but you know Yep.
00:12:43
Speaker
But yeah, um just lots of little fun moments in there, right? I feel like it's part of what makes this arc unique. Vista talking about her tits was really funny. her just yeah like i I don't know if I like that you you're talking about them so freely, Vista. Yeah. She's like, what tits? I don't got any anymore. ain't got got chainsawed one of them off.
00:13:11
Speaker
Oh, that was so funny. Because, like, like you think about the like the battle scars that you get She's just like... Like, what listen.
00:13:23
Speaker
And I love that so much. Like, little V is not little V anymore. Like, Vista's grown up. And, oh, I love that. I love seeing that. And it makes me, it makes me, like, weirdly nostalgic and sad for, like, because they mention Clockblocker, think, in the next chapter. it's just kind of like, oh, man, like, we lost so many people. Actually, they they brought up a lot of,
00:13:48
Speaker
people in these couple of chapters. like Passed away wards, yeah. Yes, yes. and And this kind of like feeling of like, well, where would they be now? And all grown up and all like, but yeah, no, I love the little girl talk. It's like very fun. Although at the same time, I feel like it's an indication that in victorious absence, who took up the reins of mentoring Vista? And it really seems like it might have been Clockblocker.
00:14:18
Speaker
it Yeah. I love it so much. Good job, Dennis. Yeah. I mean, he did. edit its Yeah. I mean, it did seem like he was this reluctant, you know, I'm going to be the the team lead for all of six months. and It's stupid.
00:14:34
Speaker
I don't want to, but he seemed like he had a really good heart. And I think he would have been, think it would have been the classic meme of like, the dad who doesn't want the pet dog and then six months later is best friends with the pet dog. Yeah. yeah It's like on the couch with the pet dog, like watching football.
00:14:52
Speaker
Yeah. i i hope we get to see a little bit more of, cause I know we got a glimpse of his like, of his Valkyrie soul or whatever it was in the one interlude. so I'm hoping. Yeah. She is trying to bring people back. Maybe. I know, right? trying to exactly how I had forgotten about that. Oh, man. that was that was it You'll know he has a soul when he like pops his head out and you know finally summons him and he's like, hey, how's my Galakari doing?
00:15:18
Speaker
And they're like, you know what? Unsummon. Unsummon. Never mind. worth the trouble. Go back, go back. How do I take the soul back out of it?
00:15:28
Speaker
ah Yes, and as rachel ranch Rachel pointed out, little V ain't got no T's no more. um TT in the chat for little me.
00:15:44
Speaker
TTs. TTs. No, no, just do like two two small X's for where they would have been. I mean, let's be honest. They get in the way a lot.
00:15:55
Speaker
As a girl, there's very many times where you're just like, fuck it, chop them off. Yeah, but she she's 16. She just got them. I know. Wait, is she really 16? I think she's only 16. I thought she was 18.
00:16:10
Speaker
ah Thank you. I also thought she 18. I feel way more comfortable talking about her boobs if she's 18. Let's say she's 18. Oh gosh, timelines are weird. you know We'll split the difference. 17.
00:16:22
Speaker
No. Because I think she's like Yeah, let's just move on for that. Okay, stop. Let's stop. No, no. It went from... him I'm looking it up. yeah looking Thank you. I would feel a lot better if we know.
00:16:37
Speaker
go Okay, so she is 17 at this point in time. Motherfucker. First thing, I'm never wrong. But she's 18 by the end of Ward, so...
00:16:48
Speaker
No, this getting into a weird territory. I'm going to cut us off. What are we on? In the Mark Wahlberg Transformers where they have to have the whole scene to justify the relationship. The guy has the Romeo and Juliet law card in his wallet.
Humor and Community Engagement
00:17:08
Speaker
No.
00:17:08
Speaker
no why the okay no yeah what a great time i love i do love stuff like that on the uh the subreddit the slash shitty movie details where it's like somebody's like this character has a card with the romeo and juliet law on it in his wallet this is a subtle nod to the fact that the director is a pedophile yeah no that's good Anyway, Rachel, this ain't going to get nuked. The Kid Rock concert didn't get nuked. What makes get turned off? We're fine. We're not big enough. We're bigger than Kid Rock.
00:17:49
Speaker
We're bigger than Kid Rock. know it's a low bar, but geez. Our one sponsor is going to pull their... Yeah, exactly. The power yeah um See, this is what's wrong with capitalism right here.
00:18:08
Speaker
yeah Censoring your good ideas, Alan. My great ideas, first off, also the little whole like, oh, well, I have 51% of the shares, so i can...
00:18:23
Speaker
like You also designed your merch, my dude. So, thank goodness that Byron and Moonsong break up. We can be glad for that, at least. Oh, thank God. I thought they were broken up already. This has been dragging on. They were never together. Right. Yes, they fucking were. This is the, like... They were never officially together. to yeah yeah they haven't been together recently.
00:18:46
Speaker
And it's one of those, like, probably... They'd always had one of those understandings of like, oh, well, you know, if we'll wait, I'll wait for you. I'll wait for you. And then just like, that's not going to work. You're babies. Please don't. Don't listen. Listen, all our all our high school viewers out there. There aren't any, but don't do this.
00:19:07
Speaker
Just move on with your life, please. You're very young. Please don't. And you're 20s, too. You're in high school. Go do your homework. What are you doing here? Go your homework. It's A23. Shouldn't you and be in bed by now? Is it past your curfew?
00:19:23
Speaker
yeah I'm saying it's by the ah you know by the end of this, the only relationship we've still got going strong right now is Golem and Ava. how dear Oh, yeah. True. We're going to stand for that for the time being.
00:19:39
Speaker
For the time being. For the time being. i don't i've i've got I've got hope for Victoria and Anna Lace. i've got I've got some hope. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Don't you mean Lace? Lace? Yeah. Hey, Lace.
00:19:51
Speaker
It was Jacob. Yeah, the dispatch where she's like, Robert, let me know if you need anything. blonde blazer touches his shoulder then walks off. And then immediately she leaves screen. looks down and goes, what the hell was that? Hey, Lace. Hey, Victoria, can I see you in a moment? What the fuck was that? What was that? Y'all fucking? Y'all fucking? Y'all on rooftops now? What's happening?
00:20:17
Speaker
The Pro ZD. Oh, they fucking. Oh, they fucking. Listen, if if her... if If Lace is what she needs to get through to get to Moose, then I'm game for it, is all I'm saying. Thank you. ah wait Lace walks the Moose to run. Exactly. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
00:20:36
Speaker
Wait, who who else is it? Because there's... there's um Rachel you pointed out also Foil and Parian. Foil and Parian long-dash. They're like our old maids at this point. They're kind of our old maids. They honestly kind of are. The old married couple, if you will.
00:20:51
Speaker
In terms of life expectancy. yeah yeah um and luis in it What's the name of the dude who would, like, take people's powers for a second? Sprite. Sprite.
00:21:02
Speaker
Sprite. Okay, so listen listen. Listen. Come closer. I ship Victoria with Sprite, Annalise, and Moose. She has her pick.
00:21:13
Speaker
She has rights best hero the Oh, I think Sprite's funny. Really? I find Sprite funny. I haven't filmed him to be an asshole just so much as he's like... Cheeky. He's just always he's cheeky.
00:21:25
Speaker
presumptive i think i think he's presumptive and i think i think victoria would avoid him if for no other reason than the fact that he borrowed sveta's power and used it better than her in front of her that was yeah i think that that's true i think that's that's where i was like a little there's just something about him that's like i feel like you're it's the it's the uh anything you can do i can do better kind of vibe i get from yeah but that's not his fault for being able to do it better it's just No, but this was see that's it's not just his power, but it's also his vibe.
00:21:58
Speaker
he He does have the that kind of like, but it also kind of comes across as like very competitive and like cheeky and funny and like I could dig it. i don't think, fair I don't know, but I mean, honestly, Annalise and Victoria, they're looking...
00:22:17
Speaker
yeah ah Looking good. yeah looking for like in the ninety We're not saying that Foyle and Perian's relationship is falling apart. We're saying that they are the longest going, strongest going. Yeah, absolutely. no they're They're the most functional couple. After what we've read, there you know there's not any other relationships that are still intact other than them. and then Everybody else is falling apart. We've still got Robo Mom and Cop Dad around still. Yeah.
00:22:47
Speaker
robo mom and top dad. Okay, alright, gotcha. Dragon and Defiant. Okay, now listen here. Wait, technically aren't they... Okay, wait, isn't Parian...
00:23:03
Speaker
God, Parian. Jesus fucking Christ. Parian Foyle a longer relationship than Defiant and Dragon? True. i was just talking about um other long-term relationships. terms of drinks. Here's the thing. yeah Here's the thing. yeah ah i Dragon and Defiant, when did they put a label on it?
00:23:25
Speaker
Have they even? Listen, they've been plugging USB chargers into ports for a long time. They've been swapping code for a long time. No way. So much code. So much code. Yeah. There's been a lot of RAM getting jammed in and out. know what I'm saying?
00:23:40
Speaker
Downloading and uploading all day. Oh my gosh. Overheating that hard drive. if you know what That's right. about this.
00:23:54
Speaker
ah yeah What I love is Michael makes the faces that my brain is making, which is just fantastic. just like look Michael's just... Tell me to Arms Master, I mean, Defiant, get down on one knee, pop that ring ah you know that ring case open just to have a little like flash drive in it, says, will you USB mine?
00:24:14
Speaker
USB mine. Oh no. Every Valentine's Day. you hate it. Also, yeah, happy Valentine's Day. That's this week. Yeah. That's this week. Happy Valentine's Day. You know what? We did not time this. Yeah, I was going to say the relationship episode. We nailed it. We nailed it.
00:24:34
Speaker
We did nail it. Oh, my eyes twitching again. ah Anything else in that chapter? ah the whole on Fran has a great point. Dragon literally rearranged his insides after the mannequin attack. Which was a month before Perry and Gotlilya as a henchman. Well said. That's great.
00:24:59
Speaker
ah I always knew Dragon was a top um yeah And we always knew that Defiant was a bottom. Yeah. We did. We did know. We did know. A brat, if you will.
00:25:13
Speaker
A brat. Oh, my God. Lord. The villains in other worlds. No, no, no, no. We still need that we still have things to address. ah poly shipping ah As it stands now, um ah because Rachel also pointed out, there is you know the obvious of the poly option, which is all of the above for Vicky. Oh, that's right, of course. Listen, true always you know I'm on that train. First off, we already know that Moose is bisexual, so that's plus. Blessa! We well lace gives off you love of bisexual Strong bisexual energy.
00:25:46
Speaker
so Absolutely, 100%. And tell me that Sprite isn't pansexual. Look me in the eye. Tell me that Sprite isn't pansexual. You look me in the eye. Yeah, no, that... so Okay, you know what? i'm willing I'm willing to drop Sprite off the list. I'd be fine with Annalise, Moose, and Vicky.
00:26:08
Speaker
m I'd be more than happy. little throuple. yeah purplebble ah As it stands though, let's just say one racial one for one. um Quick show of hands and you didn't chat. ah Team Annalace?
00:26:23
Speaker
Over Moose? Oh no. Over Moose? Yeah, I don't know how I feel. What's the second option? I'd like to know the second option before I vote. Oh, for Moose? I vote Moose. I'm a Moose person. Really? Okay. Yeah, Moose. mean, I also really like Moose. I love Annalise, but Moose is a good Moose is a good boy. Annalise and Victoria would have a nice time, but I feel like Victoria and Moose had the banter.
00:26:50
Speaker
and they had they had the banter to have the great time you know what i mean it's like yes it's like the little stuff he's already we are you know what we haven't seen enough of annalace but we have seen a lot of moose it's true you're right you're right moose moose is pretty pretty darn good this is moose is a good boy oh he's such a good boy ah all right love him Well, um backing up a little bit ah to breakfast.
00:27:16
Speaker
um Oh, yeah. Right. Oh, yeah. Back to the beginning. Speaking of speaking of sexual tension. Oh, whoa. I was talking about that. I was just talking about. now Okay. Nick, would you? No, no, please go on. No, just every interaction. Why does every interaction Ashley has with Victoria feel like?
00:27:36
Speaker
I don't know. It's a loaded interaction. Like the stomp up to them and then just grab them and make out. just Like you frustrate me so you much and then they just hate fuck. Are you using the are you using the the white towel?
00:27:51
Speaker
Yeah. a towel like i It's only natural that I would get the black towel. Clearly I would have the black and then like pinned against the wall. Perfect. Yes. Exactly.
00:28:04
Speaker
i guess I'm only letting you pin me because i want I'm allowing it. Well, it doesn't help, too. I do feel like Swan Song gives off very strong tsundere vibes of like, it's not like I like you, yeah I made you tea and breakfast. yes Yes.
00:28:17
Speaker
Baka. But I made you tea and breakfast. Anyway, I only love it so much. Yeah, and they were roommates. um They were roommates. As courtesy of Fran over there. ah No, but I love her coming out.
00:28:36
Speaker
yeah ah And Rachel. we've got a And Rachel. Great. That is popping off. Way to go, you guys. um But yeah, no, breakfast with... ah She walks out and ah we have ah Lookout talking with Ashley.
00:28:52
Speaker
I thought that was... They were having their breakfast together via like... Very cute. Yeah, that was cool. I was like, aw. I like that. A little Discord breakfast. It just, you know, it it warms my heart towards Ashley just a little bit more.
00:29:09
Speaker
Oh, I mean, Ashley. Ashley got good when damsel showed up just to show us. And I think it wasn't just us. i think it was also Ashley seeing like, God damn, am I that annoying?
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She like mellowed out a little bit. And also like her interactions with Kenzie have always been so good. I think for both of them. And like I yeah, she's she's taken on such a not quite motherly role, but like a really good aunt role. Yeah. Which I just motorcycle aunt.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. She's great. im Very, very good. Just what the doctor ordered. Yeah. ah And then talking about outfits with the Chicken Little and talking about how Rain is you know his standard for like fashion and being cool.
Plot Mechanics and Character Roles
00:30:06
Speaker
So funny. Was that in 13.1 already? i That's what I have in 13.1. I forget if... that's crazy I think that's the year. Was Chicken Little there talking with Lookout?
00:30:17
Speaker
Or something like that? Maybe. That's a possibility. it's It's something like that because she's going through her like all the different outfit looks and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. And and they all the children get together and talk about the outfits that they're putting together. Oh, that one's that one's later. That's later. No, ah no it's not.
00:30:34
Speaker
it's know there is one There is one with breakthrough and then there's another one with the heartbroken later. there's one way later when she goes to see Tattletail, but this is the one where it's... I think maybe Kenzie mentions to Rain that Chicken Little gets his fashion from, or something like that. Maybe it's not like Chicken Little himself saying it. Yeah, because everybody just goes like, Rain, really? Which is true. Like, come on, man.
00:31:00
Speaker
Rain's like, what do you mean? I'm cool. I'm so cool. Guys, I'm the coolest. I promise you guys, I really am. Oh. ah um And then I do like the solution to the lack of a jail problem. They're like, we're going to give you the supplies to survive in a random locked off world. Best of luck to you. We'll check on you in a month. Best of luck.
00:31:24
Speaker
Which like, no why isn't this just what you did with that other place, but there's no building now to take care of them. It's just like, I mean they see your probation portal in, you know, a couple of weeks. Yeah, I think the difference is the separation of people, right? They're just dropping them all across the world so they're not interacting. Exactly. They don't run into each other. They're in solitary, basically. It sounds like heaven to me. i'll be like just i yeah i'm Yeah, I agree. Oh,
00:31:53
Speaker
oh no. I'm alone out in the woods with no people. You're throwing away the key. A whole month. A whole month? Oh, no. I think that's that's basically what Yamada did. Was like, I can't, you know, because she's just been eating leftover pizza in a tiny cramped apartment, you know, working freaking 16-hour shifts and whatnot. and Right, yeah. Not having a life. And then they're like, hey, would so, you know, the portal thing's fixed. We can go back. And she's out there, like, doing her little Stardew Valley garden. Like hoeing her carrots. And she's like, oh no. I'm good. Are you sure it's still up? And Dragon's like,
00:32:33
Speaker
whoops, I gotta go fix some things for another week. She's like, yeah good. these you know These radishes are almost ready. yeah The parsnips are almost ready for harvest.
00:32:45
Speaker
she says She's just like, are they dead? Like, no? Okay. i' i Just call me when they're almost dead. i've got this i got this little I got this little garden. I'll go when it's done.
00:32:57
Speaker
In timeline, how long was Yamada gone for? now Two weeks? i i'd like two we No! weeks? As it was pointed out to me before the podcast, a month has passed since the beginning of the book.
00:33:10
Speaker
yeah No, really? i think i think in mentally, I just insert like a week between each chapter, basically. I know. i do say yeah that yes name but It's been like... Didn't they say it's been a bit of time since... Because people are healing...
00:33:30
Speaker
Because you don't just heal from a huge gunshot wound in yourself. That takes time. i i will say, I think between the last, what is it, between the last chapter and this one, I think there have been the most amount of time between arcs. Yeah. There did feel like all the others are almost entirely back-to-back days. On top of each other. ah Yeah. ye Makes sense. Seems like a calendar of events. Yeah. If you could do me a timeline, that'd be great.
00:33:58
Speaker
In visual format. I need it in visual format, not bullet point. That'd 13.2, perhaps? Let's do it. yeah Alrighty. a Breakthrough visits the new Warden Bunker in Test Lookout's new mega project.
00:34:16
Speaker
Rain and Colt have at it. Yamada, who's finally back, holds a therapy reunion that excludes Victoria.
00:34:26
Speaker
Hmm. So before we get to the Yamada stuff here and in 13.3, I, found all the stuff again, just like this little stuff, right? Where like, look out her security system and all the quirks of it and how it works and everybody's frustrations with it is like, no, no, that's a good thing. Cause if you're frustrated with it and somebody trying to figure it out, we'll be so mad that they'll just leave. Right. Right.
00:34:57
Speaker
um ah Just all that little stuff, getting to see the new warden bunker being put together. Although, maybe in my mind, I thought superheroes could build stuff faster. Like, I don't know. I just... Maybe the superhero building guy died.
00:35:13
Speaker
Maybe. Yeah, concrete man died in Gold Morning. It's just been slow going ever since. Oh, no. Yeah. el Not El Concreto.
00:35:25
Speaker
That's fantastic. ah Which is a reference to a person that some one of our friends met at a wedding. El Concreto?
00:35:37
Speaker
They were a supervillain. Well, there you go. um Yeah, ah cool stuff there. Just those little things. Rain's conversation with Colt um makes me feel like I...
00:35:52
Speaker
I wonder if there's still a little bit of bleed through, even though he's talked like they haven't shared the tokens. Nobody's really done anything with him. um It makes me wonder if maybe there is still some manner of bleed through from Love Lost. I don't know. just kind of I got like unnaturally angry vibes from him in that conversation.
00:36:13
Speaker
m
00:36:16
Speaker
Granted, I get it, though. I get it. Yeah. It's frustrating. Experience. Immensely. Also, it's just like and just the the comment multiple times being made of like, is she on drugs? Are you on drugs? Like, no, she's not.
00:36:35
Speaker
I, of all the people we're dropping off on planets to fend for themselves, I don't feel good about dropping Colt off on a planet. Um...
00:36:47
Speaker
the She clearly has the autonomy to, like, make decisions for herself, but also, like, so clearly in this conversation doesn't really know what's going on. Like, she doesn't really grasp...
00:37:01
Speaker
yeah what has happened and the consequences of what's happening to her and what that's going to actually mean. And I mean, i take some comfort in knowing that because she shares the mind palace with rain, that rain can like keep an eye on her. And if she's actively starving to death, we can get her out. But there's just a certain level of like, I don't know this I don't think this is the right choice for Cole. Like, obviously she's,
00:37:31
Speaker
Her predicament, her situation is... I mean, she's gotten herself into a ah heap of trouble, but... Yeah. it It reminded me a lot of... um I saw one time this video of this person ah in court who... I believe she had a she was driving under the influence and it hit somebody.
00:37:55
Speaker
And... you know it was a fatal accident for the other person. And she was receiving her sentencing and she was very like happy go lucky. And just like, like she very clearly didn't understand how serious it was until the judge said, I want you to realize you're going away to prison for, you know, like 30 years. Like this is a long And she was like, she was like 17. Right.
00:38:20
Speaker
So she was like, and then that was like, you see the shift in the mindset of like, oh crap, I've ruined my life. And I feel like that's what we're witnessing here is her, like, the disassociation with consequences, and then it all kind of hits her right at the end, right? Which is what we see with Rain. right And yeah she's like, right so this is real? Like, i' this is actually happening? This isn't a dream? right i can imagine you take you take drugs, and you're on this crazy high.
00:38:49
Speaker
You get powers. It's this wham-blam experience. And then you probably think to yourself, like, am I still dreaming? Is this even real? Like, what's even happening? Am I still on a trip?
00:39:01
Speaker
And it's just gone bad. And, you know, her kind of finally realizing, no, i this is real. I've i' screwed up. It's crazy. does feel like she, you know, she got the powers by basically getting on uppers and then, you know... Never came down? Yeah, and then never came down. Like, she is just...
00:39:21
Speaker
ever since she triggered, she has kind of stayed in that state mentally, it feels like. they They also talk about... I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. Yeah, was going to say, because she wasn't this bad before. Like, she was a teenager um and with all the and dumbheadedness that comes with that.
00:39:44
Speaker
But, like, she was... in She was aware of reality. like The tenuous situation that she was in when she takes the drugs, like she you know looks at Nailbiter and she's like, I fucked myself into this situation. i can't get a way out. like And you know this is just her kind of being... She's she's vaguely aware of it.
00:40:09
Speaker
And now she is just completely untethered from reality. Which is... part and parcel of how her with her power about how she moves so fast with the breaker state yeah right so like the disassociation really heading home there like yeah and they do mention oh i'm sorry alan i didn't mean to cut you off again i say It just reminds me of all the times talking about a friend who's, you know, does public defense and, you know, you get teens who do have a little bit of mental, you know, something going on.
00:40:48
Speaker
And it's ah hard because they are, a lot of them aren't dangerous to other people, but some are, some are dangerous to other people just because of, you know, they're not on meds. They don't have a good support system, yada, yada. And you know that if you did release them, this would happen within the month again, like whatever they did.
00:41:12
Speaker
And, yeah you know, obviously that's terrible. And in this case, like I was thinking through the scenario, what if we did have Colt join a team? What if she joined breakthrough?
00:41:25
Speaker
i think she would end up accidentally killing somebody, a civilian, a villain somehow for, you know, no reason, just accidentally. And then she would just, oops, and then move on and everybody would be just in shock.
00:41:45
Speaker
And how many times does that have to happen before you do throw her in the portal? Like, yeah. Hmm.
00:41:56
Speaker
Hmm. Rough. I do get, though, to to play the devil's advocate, I do get her thing of, like, why does he get his sentence pended talking about rain?
00:42:09
Speaker
Yeah. and i am I was thinking about that. I've had one bad day, and I was in with a bad group of people and misguided, and I don't get... And I think, though, the difference... Yeah, like, I i get her argument. I guess the biggest difference is that Rain came to the conclusion on his own that what he did was wrong.
00:42:28
Speaker
And for her, it would feel more like, like you said, Alan, that disassociation creation of like, people are telling me what I did was wrong. So I guess I should feel sorry. Yeah.
00:42:39
Speaker
So yeah yeah. And that's, that's definitely a problem. Yeah, because, i you know, it's always tough reading it and remembering that this pace is like she's had her powers for three weeks and she didn't, you know, most of her having power, you know, and being bad for an evening, essentially.
00:43:04
Speaker
like... like you know, she's had ah her time to what stew in a cell to think about what, like yeah she doesn't know everything. She doesn't know all the details of what went on necessarily. She's got, like she said, no time to figure this out.
00:43:27
Speaker
um I don't, I think this is, think this is the right decision. However, Like, given the chance, I think we could have worked through something. Yeah. You know, gone to therapy for a little bit, give her something to work on. Something, yeah. rain Rain had time to work through it and figure it out and ultimately turned himself in.
00:43:54
Speaker
I don't think she would have turned herself in necessarily, but she hasn't had the time to process and whatnot. Yeah. yeah And also, realistically, can she survive?
00:44:06
Speaker
Because I don't... Realistically, i don't think she can. Like, find food for yourself, hunt, build a shelter. Like, those feel like basic things, but I don't know if she's capable of doing that.
00:44:21
Speaker
Like, I don't know if she's...
00:44:26
Speaker
capable of... doing that at all like there I feel like there's a very good chance that she either starves or freezes to death because it's still winter or she takes her own life because it's just too miserable like I don't like that these are our options for cold like I feel like we could like obviously birdcage was a was a specific scenario that we no longer have and the planet option is the next best thing but at least in the birdcage you had you had other people you had a roof over your head you had food you had lodging you had a system however broken that it was that would offer you some sort of
00:45:13
Speaker
I hate even saying, i hate myself even saying, well, I'm saying it, but basically that like, that's better than being on a planet by yourself where you're going to just freeze to death or starve to death.
00:45:25
Speaker
And I just don't feel good about this decision. ideal and whatnot, which doesn't make the hunting or anything else easier. like Yeah.
00:45:36
Speaker
yeah You still have animals and for at nighttime. Yeah, being alone is torture, right? yeah Absolutely. I think being alone is a cult in this state.
Character Isolation and Ethical Questions
00:45:46
Speaker
in particular Yeah. But she's not truly Way earlier, ah leaving people in the wilderness is super dangerous and as mentally damaging as solitary confinement.
00:45:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Unless you're Jacob because he wants to be alone. was say, ah Jacob and I would thrive, but anybody else is... Yeah. fully me encourage As they pointed out, yeah as Victoria pointed out, though, like you have rain.
00:46:11
Speaker
Should anything go wrong, tell rain. Yes. We'll do a weekend to help can you do something about it? Yeah. Yeah. yeah Chuck you sleeping bag in through the portal or or or a fishing pole or something. like Just anything. yeah those night time It sounds like those nighttime times have just gotten so awkward now. They just sit there in silence. Yeah, my god. Because Colt was like, Rain and I were talking, but then Love Lost looked at me funny and I stopped.
00:46:39
Speaker
Like, you can, the the manipulation, i I won't even say, man it's not manipulation. the The pressure, clearly, that Cole is so quick to just do whatever she's told.
00:46:53
Speaker
you You treat her nice for half a second, and she'll do whatever you want. Like... Yep. Yep. Yep. Sucks. Yeah. I don't want to be the ones making that decision.
00:47:12
Speaker
Nope. Well, moving on, shall we? Yeah. As we get just at the end, basically the peak of like, oh, Yamada's back. Oh, she excluded Victoria. But why?
00:47:25
Speaker
So let's find out. 13.3. Antares, Vista and Solar Stare hang out and play for a time. Jessica and Victoria talk.
00:47:36
Speaker
Vicky is being framed, but she doesn't take it well. Victoria decides to get desperate and clear her name. The first thing I want to say is where does Solar Seer come from? Like out of nowhere. in section Out of fucking nowhere. All it is.
00:47:54
Speaker
Good all it is God. All it is is literally that meme, the the Breaking Bad meme where Walt's like, Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about? Yeah. Yeah. like yeah all time to there talking yeah She's like, you know, man, people are just like, some people are fucky and you want to fuck some and some you fuck with. And and she's like, this is just like solar share. What the fuck are you talking about? Nobody knows. I'm sorry about her. She has CBT. or Not a cbt is yeah that CBT. She has a. What is it?
00:48:23
Speaker
What's the. Not cock and ball torture. no and No, no, no, no. She got thrown against a wall and her brain is weird. Concussive brain trauma. Oh, it is CBT. Yeah.
00:48:35
Speaker
yeah Because of you know like brain injury. Sure. There we go. Whatever. she literally was one person and then she got yeeted into a wall and now she's a different person. CTE is what it's called, I think. CTE, there we go.
00:48:48
Speaker
yeah But yeah, she... ah Which is... There's an interesting thing that goes on here with arc to arc... Or not arc to arc, but chapter to chapter so far. And that there's a weird leapfrogging effect where we're having doubling up. Because...
00:49:04
Speaker
um we start this one with a kind of out of nowhere talking scene right at the beginning with no explanation. But the next chapter also starts with that. Yeah. Yeah. But you're like prepped for it because of this one. Weird.
00:49:18
Speaker
And also, we just had a chapter that was with, you know, dealing with somebody who's partly because of powers, but also because of things going on, not quite there and the responsibility of their actions and whatnot. And then we immediately jumped from c Colt to Solar Stair, who is also kind of like that.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yeah. Talking to them felt very parallel.
00:49:43
Speaker
Oh, that was... Yeah, that was... it Yeah, that was something. yeah Plus, just the visual image of her like crying light while she's talking about this excitedly is just like... It's so weird. And she doesn't blink either, so she's just kind of like... Like, whoa, please blink! She doesn't blink until she winks at Victoria, and that's ah that's the blink. And Victoria's like... like it It's like a splashy wink where it's like... I gotta imagine it was really creepy, like, just...
00:50:15
Speaker
yeah all the doll blink yeah the di the doll blink yeah yeah yeah exactly that's weird it's like it rachel says it's like skidmark's soul got put into her oh yeah damn it skidmark's peace it's hear me out hear me out i got this idea for an isekai No. The worst human being, worst villain you've ever met.
00:50:47
Speaker
But he's he gets put in a new body and he learns to be a better person. He's still a little bit rough around the edges. Also got put in the body of like a 20-year-old girl. so yeah oh ah I present to you my life in another world in another world because the last world got destroyed and so we're dealing with what we've got now. i And hate that title. Thank you so much.
00:51:11
Speaker
Yeah, I hate that so not even Not even the third longest Isekai title out there. Exactly. Doesn't even make the top ten. Yeah.
00:51:23
Speaker
Well, I really am like, I remember reading that conversation and feeling like, I think I get what she was trying to say. don't. And now I'm trying to remember it and I'm like, I don't think I'm...
00:51:36
Speaker
I don't think she was making sense, actually. Nope. I thought she was cooking for a second. She got near the stove, but don't think she was cooking. No, no, no, no. Because hear me out. It's like the LaCroix of cooking. She was getting to.
00:51:53
Speaker
had the pan on the oven, but it wasn't turned on. is No, no, no, no. She put the pan on the oven. She put all the ingredients in She was cooking, but she just didn't keep an eye on it. So it burned.
00:52:06
Speaker
Because she got distracted literally. So no, she's saying there's the four categories of like ah fucky, fuck with, ah fuck and monster.
00:52:17
Speaker
What she was trying to say was Victoria's all of those. She's she's fucky, cause, or, you know, cause she wants to be, you know, fuck with cause she's, you know, got all these connections and people want to deal with her, but she's, ah you, you want to fuck her cause she's, you know, I don't know. Solis just hot and think she's hot or something like that. Um, you've got, doing great ah whatever the other one is where she's got complicated things going on. Hence the fucky part. And then front no, no, no. The last one was frustrated. What was it was cock block is what she said, but Victoria is like frustrated is alliteration. You should use that instead. Yeah.
00:52:54
Speaker
Frustrate where her whole thing is like, is a lot of frustrating villains. That's literally she raised on. And then also monster with the wretch. So like, I think she was cooking like she nailed it. She just couldn't finish the thought.
00:53:07
Speaker
Yeah. She couldn't articulate what she was thinking. Very, yeah, very, very odd character. Very traumatic brain injury coded.
00:53:17
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah. I mean. Oh, man. Man. i love the whole piece it was like Vista was like, I feel bad because I kind of like her more now, but I. Yeah. But I feel bad because her personality changed after she hit her head. Yeah.
00:53:38
Speaker
ah Right. Oh, man. Goodness gracious. um Well, ah putting that ah that fun bit aside, we get into the worst part of this section.
00:53:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. This made me this talk between Jessica and Victoria just it made me so sad and uncomfortable. Oh, it killed me. oh Yeah. This was rough.
00:54:03
Speaker
Although, can we just point out a couple of things? Yes, because one. Yamada wasn't really worried about Chris, but Hannah is ah you are. What's the word I'm thinking of?
00:54:20
Speaker
You did win that that Chris was. Yeah, that Chris was the initial part ah part of the group that she was worried about. But that's that was a big word. she said You guessed it. That was my biggest concern.
00:54:33
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. However. However. Yeah. Vindication for those of us who were secretly like Victoria is the biggest concern. I was thinking the same thing as I was reading. i was like, we're all right. I was like, okay. We nailed it. yeah Yeah.
00:54:51
Speaker
Really funny. Although, I don't know. I i get to Victoria's frustration of like, You didn't think it prudent to tell me with my history yeah that there is a a biological tinker in the group who... Yeah.
00:55:08
Speaker
Yeah.
Character Decisions and Strain
00:55:09
Speaker
don't know. I felt like that maybe was... Not that Miss Yamada isn't perfect still, but that maybe was a myth of not telling Victoria.
00:55:20
Speaker
Yeah. I would argue, as I said to Alan, as I'm literally reading in bed, I was like, Miss Yamada... has disappointed me for the first and the last time.
00:55:32
Speaker
I have lost... Okay, I'm not even to sit I'm to say I've lost all faith in her, but this was bad. i I understand, obviously, as a therapist, you cannot wholly trust your patients because they are narrating their own story to you and you are reacting and you know taking in that information, but you're hearing it from them their perspective.
00:55:58
Speaker
So you have to take what they're saying with a grain of salt salt and have an outside perspective in order to offer healthy feedback. That's just good therapy 101. That being said...
00:56:11
Speaker
i I don't. I have a hard time. Seeing this. Where Yamada. You know. Had this information. And went.
00:56:24
Speaker
Yeah. I'm going to. Boom. I'm going to drop. A huge gap. Between myself and Victoria. I'm going to block her number. I'm going to have Dragon investigate. I'm going to. We're going to shut this down. Because that could totally be her.
00:56:39
Speaker
I'm like.
00:56:44
Speaker
good to suspect something's hinky but to be like yeah absolutely I can totally see Victoria this being Victoria yes absolutely like what do you mean I I i because because so the next chapter opens with The diary.
00:57:04
Speaker
so I'm going to reference that with this reading it. I did not immediately make the connection that like, oh, this is the diary now. And I was reading and I was like, who's do we jump perspectives? Because this is clearly supposed to be Victoria, but it's not Victoria. Like I knew immediately.
00:57:19
Speaker
And then after a couple more paragraphs, I was like, oh, it's the diary. And then she's like, oh, yes, I closed my lap. So like, yeah. i I've never been more disappointed in Miss Yamada than I was in this chapter. Where I was like, you really? Really?
00:57:37
Speaker
Like, good to doubt your patience. Sure, investigate. But this, she went straight block. yeah Right. Whoa! That feels like a massive over... Yeah, it's the kind of response where it's like, is she...
00:57:56
Speaker
wrapped up in this not not in like a nefarious way but like is she also being you know yeah we just don't know that she's also being manipulated in some way or has something else that's out that's someone's stealing her identity and so you know who know ah you know it's it's hard to tell but it it feels like that it feels like that Yamada got roped up in this too and and now you know she's making these mistakes. I think it's... It was a wild to see the play out like that. I was like, not yeah yeah not our Jessica.
00:58:28
Speaker
To go, like, scorched earth with her felt like yeah that's not Jessica to me. that's i'm gonna play I'm going to play devil's advocate real quick. it Because I think... Rick does love his devils.
00:58:41
Speaker
I do love my devils, and i I like to advocate for them. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Um... You know, the devil doesn't get enough advocacy in this world. I think it's a high time he got... but It's high time we stand on business.
00:58:57
Speaker
Go on. Little Johnny did not deserve that golden fiddle. i'm yeah sorry That is a very obscure reference. Devil went down to Georgia. Yeah, we're not keybins. I mean, it might be obscure to some people. what do you take us for? yeah yeah Not Hicks? Who wouldn't know Devil went down to Georgia? I was looking for sold-us deal. He was in a bind because he was way behind and he was willing to make a deal.
00:59:24
Speaker
Indeed. But Jessica, she never let Antari speak again. Trapped her in a conference room. That's when she began to sin. yeah Devil like Kaiser, Rachel says, Nick.
00:59:38
Speaker
yeah hey now oh you know let's go there it is as as i as i've once said in my own defense it's not that i like kaiser i just think metal bending is cool okay yeah we know it's okay nick you don't have to explain yourself to us we know we know what you're into devil's advocate for jessica here though um I could imagine, like if I were a therapist, I would imagine what would I feel like would be like really hard to deal with. And that, of course, would be feeling like I failed my patients in some way.
01:00:13
Speaker
Likely, Yamada hears about what happened with Chris. and Amy and goddess and all of that right she's maybe hearing it secondhand or thirdhand by this point in time and she thinks to herself crap I messed up like I didn't get Chris and she's probably thinking where did I go wrong like what did I do wrong that didn't serve Chris then Dragon's like hey you should probably read this diary it appears to be Victoria's and I think you should read it And lo and behold, she reads this diary supposedly from Victoria, which probably outlined how Victoria was manipulating Chris into becoming who she wanted him to be.
01:00:54
Speaker
i think I could see just like being so angry at Victoria that you're just like, I can't even talk to her right now. Like, I need to see her face to face because if she calls on the phone, I'm not going to say it. Like, I'm not going to get it and I'm not going to believe her.
01:01:11
Speaker
And so I don't know. i I want to give her the benefit of of the doubt solely in the sense of hearing so much second and third hand and then being handed basically here's how your other best patient manipulated your worst patient into becoming even worse.
01:01:27
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, like I yeah then it's like a double failure. Right. So i I don't know. Again, it is scorched earth. And I think her responsibility to Victoria should have been first. This is weird. I should talk to Victoria. Yeah, I don't know.
01:01:42
Speaker
or get Or get more people to look into it. Like, get more info, because it feels so... Yeah. And I mean, like, honestly, it's it's extra tough, because Miss Yamada has been... miss Yamada Yamada has been...
01:01:59
Speaker
such a good source of truth into Victoria's life and encouragement. And she's literally been like, because we've seen her from Worm, and she just crushed it. Every time she said the right thing at the right time, she was able to be the right space for the person that she was trying to help. So good at that. It's easy to forget. like I mean, never meet your heroes. like i I felt so betrayed in that moment. And it's just like...
01:02:29
Speaker
It's a bummer because she's still human. Like, she still has these moments where she makes bad decisions. And I think the not telling them, not telling Victoria about Chris was a huge bad decision. um But, like, it just feels like, I don't know. i i i kind of, like, went from I would trust Miss Yamada with my entire existence to, like, yeah, i don't anymore. Maybe you should go back to the farm.
01:03:00
Speaker
You lost your touch, Jess? is right Brandon points out and kind of fits with what Nick was saying. He says, to be fair, even Kenzie thought it was real. And as readers, we get an insight into Victoria's mind, so it's easier to tell it's not her.
01:03:16
Speaker
To be fair, Kenzie will leave anything. Did Kenzie think it was real? was that We'll get to Kenzie. I have thoughts about that. We'll get to Kenzie. yeah o I have thoughts. yeah Oh.
01:03:30
Speaker
and Any other thoughts on 13.3? I did have a for a brief moment here. It did cross my mind. like Have we gone full Shudder's Island? Is Victoria like imagining all the rest of Breakthrough and they're not real and this is all just one big therapy session that Jessica has like concocted to try to break her free? Even better. She's still the wretch.
01:03:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. She's in the asylum. I just got a weird shiver and I don't like it. And i like really real people are like, I guess did in my head and a few of the other people that are like coming in to help. yeah it's like the trend. It was like this explains why it's only been like a month.
01:04:10
Speaker
Right. Exactly. Right. The time feels weird. And then I said, no, wait a minute. Responses to. to Ward have been mixed over the years. i think that would, it would be too good if that was no i that would bet everybody is upset at the end because it's, was just a dream. It was just a dream the whole time. Yeah. Oh, I'd be so upset.
01:04:31
Speaker
In the Patreon, which, you know, only some of you can look at a wonderful meme was shared. It's the Bart Simpson meme. Say the line, Nick. I don't like Kaiser. i just like metal bending powers.
01:04:49
Speaker
It's amazing. that So good. Oh my gosh. Well, escape the allegations. this How do we feel about everyone Vic using her aura?
01:05:02
Speaker
what are our thoughts? I'll tell what, every time that it's happened where it feels like it was accidental or just sort of a result of heavy emotion, um because she uses it against the the mayoral candidate, right, in that one scene and stuff like that, yeah every time I'm like, okay, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. And then every time afterwards, in her internal monologue, she's like, oh no, I meant to do that. That was intentional. I'm like, Victoria...
01:05:31
Speaker
What are you doing? good You can just say you had a slip. yeah What are you doing? Can't lie to herself. Listen, you know we arent we should talk we can stand a self we can stand a self-aware queen, though, who's like, no, I'm manipulating you.
01:05:43
Speaker
yeah i here i i am the gaslight. i am the girl boss. yeah i am like I am the keeper at the gate.
01:05:55
Speaker
i am the lighter of the gas. I like that one a lot. I... It was... I mean, she she later, she justifies it by saying, I don't think she would have told me if I hadn't used my aura. it Still, still not good enough. um I mean, because if to me, it feels like you have to... Like, she should have...
01:06:19
Speaker
taken the high road of this idea of like, well, Jessica doesn't doesn't trust her. And to kind of prove that Jessica is wrong about her to not use her aura. But she can' but when she does, it's like, you're proving her point. Like, you're proving that she can't trust you.
01:06:34
Speaker
Because the whole thing is like, I don't know if I can trust you to like, talk to you about this without you reacting badly or manipulating the situation or You know, whatever. And then that's exactly what Victoria does. So it's... yeah I mean, i think I probably... if I had been her shoes, I would have done the exact same thing. Used my aura. Because, like, just out of frustration of, like, I've been in the dark. I've been thinking the worst. You literally just had a team meeting without me. Like... Yeah. Fucking tell me something. So, like, I yeah i totally get using your aura. It just... Sucked. know what it reminds me of is a
01:07:13
Speaker
the scene in the fellowship of the rain where Gandalf confronts a Bilbo and he does a whole like Bilbo baggins and like gets bigger and you know, like, for some called guyroom over shoot cast that was how like keeps hi doctor I'm trying to help you. Yeah. And it's like, you know, sometimes you, you just gotta, you just gotta scare them into helping you and you're doing the right thing.
01:07:37
Speaker
Right. I was thinking mind tricks. Yeah. No. Yours is better. Too gentle. Yours is better. Yeah. Yeah. ah Yeah, it's I mean, it's it sucks. and And I think that this is kind of like... Even if even if we we can move past this and and, you know, Jessica... we Like, the truth comes out and Jessica apologizes or something. Like, this is this is not going to ever... Like, Vic is never going to forget this. Like, she's never going to be able to move past this. Because she's she's had... And this is why it annoys me so much, probably the most, is that, like...
01:08:17
Speaker
Jessica knows that Victoria doesn't have the people in her life that, like, she doesn't have many. She has a couple. She has a few. And her group is supposed to be that. And then we find out about Chris. And it's like, okay, great. Fantastic. And then, of course, Kenzie is always a problem. But, like, we'll we'll get to that. But, like,
01:08:40
Speaker
She doesn't have that many people that she feels like she can fully trust. And Jessica is one of those people. And to for this to kind of blow up so much so, it's like, like, it makes me wonder if Jessica knew she was burning a bridge and was willing to do it in order to protect herself.
01:09:04
Speaker
Because I feel like later on we have a we have a we have a conversation between Chicken Little and Victoria. And it's very much of like the whole, I need to step aside for my own mental health. And also like, clearly this, someone needs me and I want to be there for them, but I can't for my own sake. And I wonder a little bit if that didn't happen here with Jessica because Victoria was talking to her all the time and was leaning on her very heavily. And like,
01:09:38
Speaker
Maybe this was in a way, I hate saying this because I love Jessica, but maybe this kind of gave her an excuse to question Victoria's motives and to be the reason to put space between them.
01:09:54
Speaker
and It sounds an awful lot like the next conversation we're going to have between Sveta and Weld. Yes, it does. i'm go ahead I'm seeing a lot of good mirroring in this. Like I said, they're doing this leapfrog thing where each one... It's delicious. It's scrumptious. I mean, it's one of the reasons why I think I've enjoyed these chapters so much is like it just... The cyclical cycle that just feels...
01:10:23
Speaker
good to eat with my eyes and my ears. I don't know. i It's just tasty. A tasty treat. All 5,000 flavors. As Fran and ah ah well as ah jay man andda rachel point out um breakthrough well not technically i think hers anymore because they have moved on from the group therapy are, were her clients as it were, you know, she was the one who put Vicky in touch with them in order to do this.
01:11:06
Speaker
So on some level breakthrough, the therapy group is her priority over Victoria, who is a former client and pseudo friend we'll call it it is definitely not quite a friendship but sort of they're not they're not maybe Yeah, it's a bit I don't even know like that. it's It's weird because it's some state in between. Because it's like somebody that they could get coffee together, but and they can talk about stuff.
01:11:41
Speaker
And she feels comfortable enough inviting her out to talk about this with the therapy group and introduces them. So she feels responsible for doing that, especially if finding out that Victoria was took this as an opportunity to manipulate the group into doing what she wanted.
01:11:56
Speaker
um And then also like on her own responsibility level, not just introducing her, but also protection wise, like of the two, she has a priority to the group, not to Victoria. So it's better that she like excise that so she can focus on the group.
01:12:14
Speaker
I don't like it In fact, I think it's a really bad therapist move in terms of the stuff ah that she's doing. um Mostly, it's one of those, like, these are all things that you need to do, but it's the tone of voice that you come across through this with, like...
01:12:35
Speaker
ah you know, this should be a confrontation. Absolutely. This should be something that's talked about separately. Absolutely. This should be something that said to Victoria, Hey, we found some incriminating stuff in your diary.
01:12:55
Speaker
Let's have a conversation about this. And if I feel like you're being really manipulative and squirrely with me, you just got to understand we're done. Like, yeah It feels damning.
01:13:07
Speaker
Yes. But she's right. Like this, this should be something that you should know what you're accused of and how you're going to be handling it. And, you know, I'm not a therapist. I only took a couple of classes.
01:13:21
Speaker
But like this just seems like a one of those, the tone is the wrong way that she came about it. yeah Get somebody else to talk to Victoria if you can't, if Jessica is feeling too attached, too close to it, too personable. Be like, hey, I'm going have this.
01:13:38
Speaker
Have a mediator. Like, I'm going to have to get somebody else to do this. Do that. This is the worst way talk about it. Somebody from Foresight or something.
01:13:50
Speaker
Yeah. You have to think, though, is Jessica coming into this conversation... Thinking she might be confronting basically an abusive partner, right? That's the vibes.
01:14:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's why she comes out so hot, right? Is like... Yeah. yeah Because again... Were Victoria doing everything that Jessica wanted was thinking she was doing, that's where it gets tricky. Very.
01:14:19
Speaker
But this is what I like about it. is like this is not This is not the classic trope of, oh, if these two characters just talked, everything would make sense. This is literally, yeah we have two very different perspectives from two different experiences, and neither of us have all the information.
01:14:35
Speaker
But, yeah. don't Yeah, I think no matter what happens, the relationship is... likely irreparable, even if Victoria's yeah reputation is cleared. ah Nick, you touched on something that I love about Wild Bo, which is...
01:14:51
Speaker
most of his problems are not idiot problems. There are characters and you know, the idiot problem for those who don't know is can the issue being dealt in the media, like the movie or whatnot, be dealt with a simple miscommunication that if the two characters sat down for five minutes, everything would get resolved. The answer is most movies are an idiot problem.
01:15:13
Speaker
Um, most Rom-coms are the you know the worst, but most movies in general are life i feel are prone to that. um Like, why are the bad guy and the good guy in a fighting idiot problem?
01:15:25
Speaker
Worm requires... ah like the The two people would have to sit down for like minimum hours to do something. I love Moose, and I love Vicky, and I want them to be together...
01:15:44
Speaker
But for them to come into conclusions about like when they're like in combat and what the issues that they have when they're on opposing sides could be resolved after maybe a half a day of negotiating.
01:16:00
Speaker
Like yeah this isn't a, oh, well you just misunderstood what I said there. No, this is a very serious sit-down conversation. And in this case, o like, Victoria and her mom could sit down for days, and their issues will never get resolved.
01:16:20
Speaker
Like... Yeah. yeah with With Yamada in the room at her best. You know, Worm Yamada could be sitting in the room. Worm Yamada. And they
Realism in Storytelling and Humor
01:16:31
Speaker
would still... It would it would take legit...
01:16:34
Speaker
months, years of therapy for them to figure out the, their problem and to, to get on the same page. It is a fundamental difference of the way they think.
01:16:48
Speaker
And you just don't get that in other stories. yes good Yeah. Yeah. It's much more realistic in that way. Cause I think, especially early on in teaching, I kind of, you kind of have this hubris of like, I'm right.
01:17:02
Speaker
And all I need to do is explain it to you well enough and then you'll understand. yeah And if you don't understand or if you disagree, then clearly I didn't explain it well enough and I just need to try again.
01:17:15
Speaker
um And in that feels like, you know, there is sort of that mindset in some stories, like you said, where it's like, oh, if these characters just talk to each other, is is literally just a dumb community miscommunication. And if they just shared stories, they would understand. But this feels like No matter how much they talk, they're just going to come away with different perspectives. And that's a very realistic take on life, which is refreshing for for stories. Disappointing because it affects characters we like, but refreshing in the sense that it's realistic. yeah
01:17:50
Speaker
As J-Man pointed out, Yamaha, Yamada, Pastor Prime, you hate to see it. You know what they say, what is it, live long enough, what is it, die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Had she died in the portal, goaded forever, but maybe lived. Damn, damn! I hate that you're right.
01:18:17
Speaker
they Most people do. They hated him because he spoke the truth. Also, Rachel. Okay, get the fuck out. Michael banned him immediately. All right, on that note, you guys continue. I'm going to go... ah Yeah. All right. so we get after After an hour and 20 minutes, should we get to the halfway point? Yeah, exactly. Oh, my God. Look, all the good stuff was in. I've been saving up all of my thoughts and feelings from literally the beginning of Ward until now. So, yeah. yeah Do we start calling Yamada Yamaha now?
01:18:54
Speaker
Yamaha. I mean, if we do it, see, Alan's gone. He doesn't know. And we just start doing it. And we just don't correct each other. And that's just how it's going to be forever. Fair enough. All right.
01:19:06
Speaker
Well, 13.4. There you Yeah. point four you go yeah as we Although I'm loving Bunty is just hanging out in Alice's screen corner. I was going to pull her up. She's so cute. She's got a little like little bowl on the cat tree. And Alan calls it the little cereal bowl that she sits in sometimes. Yeah, she's in literally in the cereal bowl so And you can bounce her up and down in it like a basketball. that's That's my little baby right there. Hilarious.
01:19:37
Speaker
That's awesome. right doesn feel ladle and Sorry. I was talking about ladling your cat. yeah Like a big Vic reads her diary and then decides to take lookout to the chicken tenders meeting.
01:19:55
Speaker
She contabulates with Tattletail and gets her to look at the diary and TT decides they should investigate. o Oh, this is the team up I've been waiting for, man. Like I was, yeah as soon as she's like, who can I talk to to help? And she's like, I talked to Tattletail. I got to Tattletail. God damn it. So I'm feeling really bad about myself. I have a lot of issues that I need to work through. Some of the mental, emotional, social, physical issues.
01:20:30
Speaker
Do I want to fix my problems or do I want to hurt myself? I guess I'll talk to Tattletail, right? um Yep.
01:20:41
Speaker
Like her going to Tattletail is self-harm, right? It's like going to the bar instead of going back to a different therapist. Yeah. It's like picking a fight on the street just because it's like men will literally do anything rather than go to therapy. Right. I mean, it's a guy just like waiting in an alley to bump shoulders with somebody so they can get the shit beat out of them. um Except in this case, it's Victoria being like, I could get, you know, take some time for myself, think about this, or i could or talk to Tattletail and, ah you know, really call names. Yeah.
01:21:18
Speaker
I just need somebody to call me Glory Hole one more time. yeah Oh, basically. Yeah, i I love this. um There's a lot of problems with it. But in this chapter, really love this kind of dual parenting that's happening with Kenzie of like she has both of their children. And it's literally two parents meeting and being like, Tattletail?
01:21:45
Speaker
lori hill like i love it so much and and there you know she's like checking and she's like scoping out their little hideout or whatever she's like looking at the different spots and their snacks and you know the chicken little you know they walk in the door and chicken little you know he does his whole like turns around with the chicken like stroking his cheek i just love that so much so much fun and they're delightful That energy, too, of like that kid, kid fun energy that I think like I just want for Kenzie so badly, which, you know, we can talk about later.
01:22:24
Speaker
We'll get to that later. ah Yeah. um but Oh, man. Yeah. The. um
01:22:33
Speaker
Yeah, that was so funny. Whoever wrote Victoria's diary, I think, has been reading a bit of smut because. Part of her diary, I did think that was funny, was like in the slight tension I have with Ashley.
01:22:46
Speaker
Also, I see the way Byron looks at me. And it's just like, wow, what is this? My good. This is like, was Vista writing this? All this is. Yeah, all this is all this is is Wildbo is like in a mood where he was like reading like harem worm fan fiction. it's Amazing. Amazing. Yeah.
01:23:09
Speaker
Oh, man. good no This whole thing is just, it it feels a little bit filler-ish just in the sense of like it's in between the real stuff. But a little I did love all those little bits that you mentioned.
01:23:21
Speaker
Just because it's kind of like, what are we doing? We're going to go talk to Chicken Little. There's some funny moments that happen, but really all that happens is Tattletail is like, okay, let's investigate. I'll team up with you. like yeah Nothing else really happens. It's a fun, that very fun though.
01:23:37
Speaker
Yeah, I do love that satisfying moment of Tattletail. It's like, you have five minutes. And Vic is standing there, and then 10 goes by. And it's like that satisfying moment of like, okay, I'm not crazy. like And then 15 goes by, and then 20 goes by, Tattletail comes out, and she's like...
01:23:55
Speaker
yeah, we need to look into this. Like, oh, that's so satisfying, especially because Tattletail is just, by nature, so ah condescending and petty. And I just love that about her so much. She's such a peach.
01:24:09
Speaker
And having this, you know, has always been, oh just she just needles Victoria. And I love that. That's so much fun. and But this moment of, like, the seriousness where the, you know, the needling kind of drops for a minute. She's like,
01:24:24
Speaker
No, yeah, we, this is, this is a problem. Like, we need to deal with this. And, ah, yeah I love that, of, like, that vindication of, like, Victoria isn't just, because she thinks she's crazy. She's having this moment where she's like, did i did I write this?
01:24:38
Speaker
I don't know. And, like, I had a moment where i was like, did has the wretch gained sentience? Has the wretch written this? You know? But having...
01:24:48
Speaker
Exactly. And so like having this kind of indication of like where Tattletail is like, no, I'm seeing a bigger picture thing going on here. Like there's something bigger than just this weird diary on your computer. Like this is bigger and we need to investigate. We need to look into this. And I'm seeing that this is going to be leading us to foresight. So like that's the direction we're going to go. And it's just it's so satisfying.
01:25:11
Speaker
And oh team up of the century. love it. So good for it. As Fran points out, unfortunately, the more suicidal you are, the more likely Tattletail is to help you out.
01:25:23
Speaker
yeah Well, not just more suicidal, but also bitchier Victoria gets, the nicer Tattletail is to her. There's a sliding scale.
01:25:35
Speaker
It is that same way with like the kids, too, where the meaner Victoria is. To them, the like Tattletail shifts over to being the nice parent and vice versa. Yeah, exactly. But then it also flips where they're like, I love the like, you know what?
01:25:49
Speaker
Let's call it $7.50, but I'll knock $50 off if you're mean to Tattletail along the way. Like, give her a wedgie or something. She needs to get bullied more. Give her a wet willy. Find a way to give her a wet willy along the way. noogie or a the swirly. No, that was so funny that she was like a noogie. I'm like, oh okay. that's I mean, alright. Victoria can do it. Tattletail would never live it down. No.
01:26:16
Speaker
I just want to see like Tattletail's talking and in the background like the focus shifts. like It shifts so now you're like looking at Victoria and she's just going...
01:26:28
Speaker
no And like gets her right in the ear. i just, I want to see it happen. I you know. i I know Victoria doesn't swing that way.
01:26:40
Speaker
But I could almost ship them together. Because it would be too i mean fun to have them as a little moment. Okay. They're funny together. We've already voted once for the boys. no No, no. I'm not changing my vote. My vote is the same.
01:26:56
Speaker
no, no, no. For the girls.
01:26:59
Speaker
Is it Victoria and Ashley? Or is it Victoria and Tattletail?
01:27:08
Speaker
No.
01:27:10
Speaker
I'd rather it be Victoria and Tattletail because I yeah i like Tattletail better. for the banter just i which Honestly, i think that might might be why this is so good. This whole part is because I'm like, oh, Tattletail's back. It feels it feels like Worm again. right You know, I and didn't want that to be the case, but I think that might yeah might be part of it.
01:27:31
Speaker
Because like again all the little Tattletail things that just make her so enjoyable as a character. of Victoria's like, really my password is, and Tattletail's already typing it in. My password is... All right, never mind.
01:27:44
Speaker
I love it. i just, i love that I love the kind of dynamic between them because Victoria, like, Tattletail's really just trying to push Victoria to, like, stop being such a goody two-shoes. Like, I feel like that's her motivation for needling Victoria from the beginning. Has always just been like, admit that you're not perfect.
01:28:01
Speaker
And Victoria's like, well, no one's perfect. And she's like, stop giving me this bullshit. Just be a bitch for a second and we can finally have some ground to stand on. And so if they if they were to like, like if Victoria ever decided that she was done being a hero and she was okay being a rogue, like foil, like she was okay being a rogue slash villain space, I think she and Tattletail would get along so well because Tattletail would...
01:28:27
Speaker
purposefully push the envelope to piss her off but victoria would do the same the opposite way and they'd make a great team like a great like little rogue team oh yeah that'd be fun oh i just need more tattletale in my life really that's all it is
01:28:48
Speaker
indeed uh bernard uh the answer is later
01:28:55
Speaker
um Moving 13.5. Was there more in this chapter? I feel like we talked about everything, I think. I think we're good. Yeah, it was a pretty short Again, it felt it felt like a bridge chapter.
01:29:10
Speaker
um Yeah. I think this was like a 30-minute audiobook chapter, too. I think it was the one of the shorter ones. Yeah. 13.5. Conversations the car.
01:29:19
Speaker
thirteen point five conversations in the car The investigation takes TT, Vic, Snuff, and Chicken Little to foresight, where they scrounge for information. They're pointed towards Ratcatcher, who, they say, has a story to tell. Love Chicken Little.
01:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, Chicken Little. i like I really liked his conversation with Tattletail, and I liked... that or With Victoria, and I liked that Tattletail and Snuff respect him enough where he's like, hey, can I just talk to her and you guys not listen?
01:29:58
Speaker
And they're both like, cool, yeah. You know, kind of metaphorically roll up the limousine window. Yeah. You know, and they have, and just that like mentor-mentee coaching moment that makes Victoria such a good character. It really shines here, I feel like.
01:30:16
Speaker
Yeah, really cool. Really liked it. good Good character development too. yeah Yeah, for sure.
01:30:27
Speaker
Are we timing our drinks, by the way? I'm sorry. Nick, Jacob, and I keep drinking right about the same time, and it's cracking me up. We've done it for the past four times I've taken a drink. I go to pick up my drink, and I look, and Jacob is drinking, and I go to put it down, and then another time, and it's Nick, and we're just alternating. Psychological. You see someone drink, you get thirsty. You guys keep doing it. That's hilarious. I not notice that. I'm going to only notice that now.
01:30:54
Speaker
How do we feel about ah what Chicken Little says about Kinsey, though? I feel like that's a big i yeah a big deal. Yeah.
01:31:07
Speaker
i'm I mean...
01:31:11
Speaker
Kenzie's supposed to have rules, and I don't feel like Kenzie's following him. not. No, she's not. And in her old ways. the rules yeah The rules are there for a reason. and I think that while it's like one of those things where like, candy's delicious, but candy all the time. ah Sorry, I forgot we have a character named Candy. Let me rephrase. Pizza's delicious, but pizza for every meal is delicious.
01:31:37
Speaker
you're goingnna You're going to feel sick. You're going to feel bloated. You're going to be you have too much sodium. Your acne is going to act up because it's too much oil. like it's just going to be All of these other things are going to start impacting you because you're eating pizza every fucking day. And like as much as I love...
01:31:55
Speaker
lover the idea of Kenzie being around these kids and connecting with them. And she's, you know, fucked up in a certain kind of way and the heartbroken are fucked up in a certain kind of way. And Chicken Little kind of bridges that gap and they're all, they'll like, you get love it.
01:32:14
Speaker
But maybe not as a team. Like, and we're seeing that here with Chicken Little being like, I'm starting to resent her and I don't want to. And it's been what?
01:32:26
Speaker
Timeline again. Three weeks. Three weeks. Yeah. They can't function as a team if it's only been three weeks, not even a full month. And Chicken Little is like, I kind of hate her.
01:32:37
Speaker
Like. Hmm. Not like I hate her, but like she's annoying. No, of course not. Yes, he's he's. And the thing, though, is it's really easy for that line to go from like, OK, you're annoying me slightly to like, OK, this is really annoying to like, OK, I fucking can't stand the sound of your voice like that can happen fairly quickly unless you deal with it immediately. Yeah. And that sucks. It becomes a burden to communicate with somebody.
01:33:08
Speaker
Then it it's hard to have a genuine relationship with them. um I've had a couple of people like that in my life where you just, it gets to the point where you see a message from them and rather than being like, oh, so-and-so messaged me, you're like, okay, I gotta, I gotta read that later when I have the energy. gotta deal with this now.
01:33:29
Speaker
You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, yeah. And it, it doesn't lead to healthy relationships and dealing with that at what? 11 years old. 12 years old, however old Chicken Little is. 12 is yeah so much to take on. The fact that he's even self-aware enough to be like, I'm kind of not liking it and I don't know how to say something to her, yeah but I don't want to resent her. like I feel like Like that shows a lot of self-awareness on his part, which is good. Yeah. um For his age. But man, that that sucks. Like, and you just feel bad for Kinsey. Because you know, all that is, is that she is excited to have friends again.
01:34:06
Speaker
And she forgets that real people need boundaries. Yeah. Yep. Which was what got her into therapy in the first place. Yeah. Yeah.
01:34:18
Speaker
i it's It's funny because like we're getting to this point. One of the little themes of this first half of the arc is that... Okay, so... I might have missed it a little bit, but when did Jessica Yamada officially come back?
01:34:34
Speaker
How long has she been back, quote-unquote? This is the official comeback. Yeah, that's what i thought, right? Is it? Yeah, she's been off... farming this whole time. Reappears and everyone starts relapsing. Like, Sveta's falling apart.
01:34:49
Speaker
Kenzie's back to her own ways. ah yeah of Byron is going through a breakup. ah Like, it just it feels like not where you would expect them to be.
01:35:04
Speaker
yeah Regrouping with their favorite therapist. Yeah. Yeah. i don't know. I feel like Yamada is... ah that The sinister in me wants to believe that that she's behind all this and it's not really her or she's being manipulated or something like that. Yeah, something's going on. I don't know.
01:35:25
Speaker
Very thematic. Coincidence? Coincidence. think mean, we're also we're also coming off of a time where... everyone was literally pretty cut up.
01:35:40
Speaker
Right. And we're we're we're having to deal with that now. And so, like, I understand things kind of slipping through the cracks. Like, you're trying to make you're trying to make things work. You're trying to feel normal again. You're trying to, like... like you For some of them, like, Tristan, like, your body has literally had to get put back together. Like, this is this has been a very traumatic, tough time for everybody. and It makes sense that in that, like Kenzie kind of backslides with the rules that she has about, you know, hugging and personal space and electronic time. And she, i mean, we've seen it before. She consistently makes excuses and allowances for herself. And they, by the nature of their job and what they do, they almost have to make these allowances for her because of,
01:36:28
Speaker
Exenuating circumstances and because well, you know, the wardens need the security tech and she's really fucking good at it. And it's a project for her to work on and that maybe could be distracting at this time. So like we're going to let her work on it. And it's like.
01:36:45
Speaker
It's really easy to forget and in moments like that, that Kenzie's still a kid with no parents. who needs to have the boundaries and the supervision and just doesn't have that. And, like, even at the at the the home or the place that she's staying at, like, she has a she has a a workshop because the people there realize that she has powers and they're trying to kind of, like...
01:37:13
Speaker
give her that space and that special outlet and special circumstances when it's like, I mean, yes, absolutely. Kenzie needs that, but we still have to keep boundaries in place and someone has to be on top of that. And it's like, I mean, it's fucking exhausting.
01:37:31
Speaker
I wouldn't want that job. Like there's a reason I have three cats. Because kids are terrifying enough. Nick, I don't know how you do it. Although your kids are fantastic, so I don't know.
01:37:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty scary. No, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, um... Yeah. I don't know. It's tough. It's tough.
01:37:58
Speaker
Fortunately, um neither of my children are quite so messed up or have superpowers, so it's a yeah that is certainly a benefit. We can thank...
01:38:09
Speaker
I'm waiting until they're about 11 then we're going to go for the triggers. Right. Charlie would make a great chicken little Listen, son, I'm going to get this basketball hoop and your job is just to score on me and then I just bat it down every time. You can just teach him a lesson.
01:38:28
Speaker
Again. Go through the montage in the rain yeah in the sea exactly and the rain in the snow. um Amazing. Yeah. um un Again, this is where we get the ah fun foresight conversation with Annalise and Effervescent.
01:38:49
Speaker
um Which I love. They immediately slip into nicknames, Lace and Effie. It's like, it's the removed layers of naming where it's like they're already using cape names and then they have nicknames for their cape names.
01:39:05
Speaker
You know, Lace and Effie. It's great. um But yeah, again... And that's that kind of scrounging for information of like, hey well, who's been on the outs, who applied recently, and it points them towards Ratcatcher, who we've met before, who we ah we have mixed feelings about, I think.
01:39:24
Speaker
Mixed feelings? Do we? Do we? Do we all like Ratcatcher? I feel like somebody didn't like Ratcatcher. Ratcatcher is a peach. Okay, never mind. It's weird. Ratcatcher has no stands. I am dead.
01:39:37
Speaker
yeah if there are If there are four Ratcatcher fans, we are we are them. If there are three... if i am dead.
01:39:49
Speaker
Yeah. Exactly. um Okay, cool. So we're all Ratcatcher fans. good We're good. yeah um Yeah, yeah. But then we we do get that little moment in 3-5, or thirteen five is the one we mentioned, where Tattletail's like, oh, you know you know what Annalise was asking you to do? That rooftop meeting.
01:40:07
Speaker
You know, the whole. Yeah. It's like, I like how she explains it to Chicken Little with an analogy he also wouldn't understand where she's like, you know, like when someone invites you in for coffee, it's not about the coffee. And he's like, it's like Netflix and chill. And he's like, what's Netflix? That's right. It didn't make you get it when you're in the world. o Yeah. yeah you You'll understand when you're older, Chicken Little.
01:40:31
Speaker
i just I can't imagine Chicken Little, like he's like 15, 16, he looks back on conversations like this and he's just like, ah oh, oh, oh! The numbers are calculating. Yeah. right yeah Oh man, good times though. Still good character moments, right? Which we really appreciate.
01:40:53
Speaker
But I think we can move on to 13.6 with Rat Catcher. Can we please? Alrighty. 13.6. Radcatcher showcases how hard it is to be awesome all the time and how that can be taken advantage of.
01:41:09
Speaker
She has been a victim of identity theft. Breakthrough and Undeciders start silent running. They're pointed towards big picture.
01:41:20
Speaker
oh Radcatcher is underutilized in this story. And we need more i i Listen, it's not every day you get insight into somebody's sex life. I didn't expect that it would be Ratcatcher, but here we go.
01:41:38
Speaker
i i love, as Rachel pointed out, it started with me getting pith drunk. Pith drunk.
01:41:48
Speaker
I have lots of great friends that give me plenty of good advice. I have Templeton, Rasputin, Rose Gold, and like whatever the other thing is.
01:41:59
Speaker
And Tattletail just goes, Rat, mal rat, mouse, liquor. yeah yeah It's so good. It's so funny. I love that she's like looking through her text like,
01:42:11
Speaker
That sounds like me. I would do that. I wouldn't do that though. Snake up the bum hole. Snakes are terrifying. Oh my god. I well i mean, i knew Listen, I'm 31. I've existed on the internet for way too long. I knew what the messages were alluding to. And it just, it was one of those things where I'm like reading. I'm like, oh no. Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no. Is this where we're going? I did so think that's where we're going. Oh, we went there.
01:42:44
Speaker
just up We've arrived. yeah yeah her The pickup line bits cracked me
Identity Theft and Investigation
01:42:55
Speaker
up.
01:42:55
Speaker
It's hilarious. it was Oh, my gosh. Wow, what a choice. What a choice. I'll be honest, though. I want to know what what have worked on me. i want to know.
01:43:07
Speaker
I want to know what her pull rate is. Like, yeah how can jump and how many do you pull with that line? Because I... More than you'd think.
01:43:18
Speaker
More than you'd think. Would you rather have... would you rather Would you rather bring a rat to climax or sleep with a woman? mean... Some people don't have the choice. Rat climax lasts up to five minutes, so...
01:43:35
Speaker
I like that she's like, that's probably not true, but it makes the pickup line sound better. They're like, does it Weird. mean, look, there's someone for everyone.
01:43:48
Speaker
oh man. Chat loves Rat Catcher. I love that. Yeah. Rat Catcher is great. I love Rat Catcher. From the beginning. This line got me the That's a pickup line. See, I rate myself an honest three out of five and say I'll do this because even a bad one is pretty good.
01:44:06
Speaker
And then no strings attached. It's like, OK, all right. i I love that she's thought through it. Like she's like, put together. but I like to think that she has a note on her notes app. She has the series of texts and she just copy and paste them when she's like trying to pull moves. But let's be honest. She's not copying pasting. The rat is doing it for her.
01:44:30
Speaker
ah she's like She's like sitting and Templeton is like bit a bit a bit a bit a bit of bit of yeah put it with his tiny little rat fingers. And tell him. And tell him. Tiny toe beans. Full ratatouille-ing the phone. Oh gosh. Yeah.
01:44:43
Speaker
Also, I love that she's like, they're my friends. Because, you know, they've got the eagles got them way up in the sky. She's like, yeah they're my friends. I've trained them to use the litter box and they bring me snacks when I'm in bed. I'm like...
01:44:55
Speaker
i Look, that you really are living the dream. what do share like she's they She's like, i heard you're not supposed to drink until after five. And it's like, and when do you usually wake up? About 3 p.m. You're not an alcoholic and you start drinking after five. do all I'll just leave until 3 o'clock. 3 or 4 o'clock. There we go. Oh know my gosh. it just honestly but like ah Best of Rat Catcher quotes. Best of Rat Catcher. Just all of the all of the times Rat Catcher ever said anything.
01:45:32
Speaker
Oh my god. I know we've been hard on Wild Boe and a few of these arcs, but like these arcs are where he just shines as so a writer. like These character moments are just fantastic. For real.
01:45:45
Speaker
I know it's never going to happen. makes up for the past arcs. An action comedy written by Wild Boe. All seven of you were talking at the same time. know. I'm sorry. Seven.
01:45:59
Speaker
They multiply when you start talking together. Yeah. thank No one can miss me at all. good. oh go up Yeah. No. Good times. Oh, she just... So, fun fact, if you didn't know this, Alan had fancy rats when we were dating and engaged. And I used to go over to his apartment that he shared with Jacob. And dorm room.
01:46:25
Speaker
And in your dorm room. That wasn't allowed. But he did it anyways because it's Alan. But I used to wear my hoodie backwards. And so the hood was like right here. And one of the rats would like curl up. And I'd play video games at their apartment with a rat just like right here up by my face. And he was so stinking cute. Adorable. And like so cuddly. And he would like come up and he'd like like nibble on my face and just like give me little little rat kisses. And I'd feed him little yogurt.
01:46:54
Speaker
Yogurt balls. He was great. it It was lovely. He was lovely. Anybody who thinks that rats aren't good pets is a liar and they need to reconsider their entire life choices. Rats are decent pets. Fantastic pets.
01:47:08
Speaker
i As a quick side note, too, as a quick rat story, my sister got a rat as a pet. um was told it was a boy rat. Unbeknownst to her, it was a female rat.
01:47:21
Speaker
Humpst was pregnant. No! no that was when's mcgregors that was when we just That was when my poor, sweet, innocent sister discovered the horrifying fact of reality that rat moms will eat their babies.
01:47:36
Speaker
oh Oh, no. The trauma began. Fortunately, the pet store bought back the survivors. Oh, no.
01:47:48
Speaker
The trauma-tired survivors. What power did she get when she triggered? Yeah, to date did any of them trigger her? Yeah, right? mean That's the story your sister became like um a... yeah that's I guess that's how you get into rat breeding, right?
01:48:01
Speaker
No other way. It's just childhood trauma. Just something about the blood and the... It's like, this is my calling. yeah now survive this Now she's an English professor. no Well, and we're so proud. It's true. um oh Anyways. That's funny. yeah so they're Great, great chapter. 13.6 highlight for literally...
01:48:25
Speaker
i literally Very rarely does reading something make me laugh out loud. Audiobooks will, and yeah obviously shows and things will. But this was one of those moments where I did a couple of like the hu like kind of laughs. yeah. Out of sheer surprise and delight. 100%.
01:48:43
Speaker
you know My wife looks at me and like, are you okay? my eyes just so funny She's like, are you reading? I'm like, yeah, I'm reading it. Amazing. That's amazing. no i had moments like that too.
01:48:58
Speaker
yeah it's It's so good. Well, you know, listen, when Wildo makes Nick laugh out loud while reading, we know we're in good chapters. It really does feel like these have kind of, in a weird way, like made up for the the sins of the past of Ward for me because i i I think I mean, I've shit on some of this stuff.
01:49:18
Speaker
pretty hard thus far. and My disappointment has gone very deep. But these chapters, they just, they're so, there's just some really deep, impactful moments, really funny moments, some great character interactions. It's just like,
01:49:34
Speaker
Oh, crispy. Like, like this is the shit that I love. Like, this is where Wild Bo shines. Like, this is the good stuff that makes me want to you know read a book that's this fucking long because it's so. Yeah.
01:49:52
Speaker
Anyways. Yeah.
01:49:56
Speaker
Get it out of my system. I do. and One last thing on. Oh, sorry, Jacob. Go ahead. No, I mean, bob I was going to say with the don't want to miss the point where Ratcatcher is also a victim of this weird identity theft. Yes. So, yes. Yeah.
01:50:09
Speaker
Yes. What's going on Yeah. We do confirm that, but it would never with this. Tattletail suspects. Yeah. Never with a snake. um Tattletail suspects. Countenance was the real target, though. Not Ratcatcher, which is interesting. Right. Yes.
01:50:25
Speaker
Which I thought was... Which he also has a nickname. They call him the Count. They they call him Count. Anyways. Foresight and their nicknames for each other is just adding. I did want to also mention 13.6 before we move on.
01:50:39
Speaker
ah There's that brief moment where Victoria and Tattletail talk about the charade.
Crisis and Relationship Struggles
01:50:44
Speaker
the You know, the charade they used to have as heroes and villains. yeah Where it's like, you know, alluding to that game that Tattletail talked about way long ago in Worm.
01:50:52
Speaker
And sort of like... It was a charade and like things used to be good. And Tattletail's like, but were they really? We were just kind of faking. And she's like, at least kids weren't getting chopped up into pieces. And Tattletail's like, yeah, I'll give you that one. Touche. However. Fair enough.
01:51:09
Speaker
You know. yeah um Yeah. I did like, too, she said, it's a good way of putting it, but the tool I was handed is a backhoe. It's like like, I was not given i was not given the tools to...
01:51:23
Speaker
be yeah the good kind of person that you that people would want me to be. Right. Yeah, exactly. yeah
01:51:36
Speaker
Last chapter? Good time. Last chapter. oh Oh boy. Give me a long one, fellas. Strap in. We get from, i feel like, the heights of fun, interesting character to creepy character.
01:51:54
Speaker
Big picture, 13.7. Creepy photographer is creepy. Breakthrough breaks silence for a crisis, which are Weld and Tress having a breakup.
01:52:06
Speaker
Sveta decides to join the investigation to work out her frustrations, and they head for the local villains at the lodge.
01:52:17
Speaker
Right. Big picture first, because there's a lot to do with there. Yeah, let's do that one first. I think Weldon's sketch is definitely a more heavy conversation. And yet... Yeah, big picture...
01:52:30
Speaker
i I find it interesting that he is like, I have a thinker power that allows me to see the environment better. And I also use it for photography like that. yeah That side of it, I thought was clever is like, yeah, as a ruse of like, oh, I'm just a good photographer. But also I have superpowers is i was like, that's pretty cool. I like that.
01:52:52
Speaker
It's unfortunate. He's a weirdo then. yeah Because i feel like. I. I have not had much experience with like boudoir type photography.
01:53:07
Speaker
However, i have heard that a good boudoir photographer and somebody who's interested in doing it, it can actually be a very affirming and positive thing for body positivity in the sense of, wow, I'm a lot more attractive than I thought I was. And these look really good. And I can look at myself in,
01:53:31
Speaker
You know, because people who and I've been this way to when when you look at your body and you don't like the way your body looks, you tend to wear baggy clothing, cover yourself up like you don't want to show off how you look.
01:53:43
Speaker
And so that vulnerability that comes with something like boudoir or that style of photography where you are revealing yourself is very intimate and can be very powerful. So the fact that he's taken it and used it on case 53 is who we know are like literally walking, talking body image problems.
01:54:01
Speaker
um It's like it feel it does. I understand why Victoria is so uncomfortable because it does feel so.
01:54:12
Speaker
Exploitative, even if it's not technically predatory. Yeah, even if it's not technically, even if it's all technically above board, even if it's all technically in writing and in agreements and they were paid handsomely for their pictures, it still feels like.
01:54:29
Speaker
Icky. and i think And since bodily autonomy is a really big theme, I feel like this just kind of hammers a lot of that home. And it kind of hits on to just, sorry, I'm on a bit of a rant, but it kind of hits on to that concept of like, your image is not your own once you put it out there.
01:54:47
Speaker
um yeah Sort of how, yeah you know, with social media people or personalities, like, I mean, you think about how many memes we use that are real people, right? Like,
01:54:59
Speaker
Leonardo DiCaprio alone has like 20 or 25 that get used regularly. um And on top of that, you know, then you've just got even like streamers, like Markiplier is used in a lot of memes, people like that. um And it's fun as a culture to get into that. But then you remember, oh, that is a real person.
01:55:18
Speaker
But that image of their face no longer really belongs to them. And were that done... with a an embarrassing or a less than ideal picture. I could understand that being particularly that feeling particularly upsetting, right? Like, Oh, my image is no longer my own. i don't own it.
01:55:37
Speaker
It's now being out distributed in magazines and for people to look at and use however they see fit for positive or negative. so yeah and So, yeah, it's, it's a bit, it's more than a bit icky.
01:55:55
Speaker
Um, Yeah. Yeah, it's... it There's... There's so much of this that I was, like, listening to that I was just... I was, like... There...
01:56:12
Speaker
i like i So when Victoria walks in, she specifically doesn't shake his hand, and she like pretends to look at pictures, and she doesn't want to touch him. And she has this kind of like, she's thinking about Sveta.
01:56:25
Speaker
She's thinking about what she knows of what Sveta has shared with her. She's seeing it in front of her, these pictures. That are clearly... like you she She talks about the ah gully.
01:56:40
Speaker
that she's That you can feel the tension in her shoulders through the picture. And she's like looking through her dreads. And it's this very this very striking image.
01:56:51
Speaker
ah Even from standing on the other side. Knowing the particulars of how this picture came to be. She can see... the The tension. She can see the problems in it. And it's it's one of those things where it's like...
01:57:06
Speaker
i
01:57:10
Speaker
yeah It's so... Like, i i don't I don't really even have words for it. It's it's so... And he he he looks at the the case of G3s and he's clearly like, oh like, I want to be like them. I want to be. It's like, you dont know, you don't.
01:57:29
Speaker
you're You're fetishizing people. Yeah, part of their reality for your own entertainment. And it's it's because you can admire somebody different from you and admire features about them or admire ah personality traits or admire talents like that's that's normal.
01:57:50
Speaker
ah But the the line that he crosses that feels so clear with his photography, with the way that he talks, with his actions, that it's a fetishization of Case 53s and people in general. And it's like, oh, it's so slimy.
01:58:12
Speaker
it's so It's so unsettling. Just, oh. Yeah. Yeah. see, this is one of those things where like, I, I remember reading this for the first time and not getting it.
01:58:29
Speaker
Um, because, and and even now reading it, knowing, you know, what's going through Victoria's head and just like, I don't know, reading more, focusing more,
01:58:44
Speaker
um on this, like there's still a weird disassociation for me reading this of like, I mean, it doesn't seem like anything's weird to me.
01:58:55
Speaker
And I have to sit there and go, and and I do mean like the the vibe thing, because I can't get a vibe. I'm, I don't feel like the vibe was imparted to me except through like explaining Victoria being like, I don't like this.
01:59:09
Speaker
And of course i just go, okay, like, well, I'm, I'm not feeling that as much as, you know, like the feeling, the sense of dread or something like that when you read a horror book.
01:59:20
Speaker
And in this, I did not feel the feeling of creeped out, but then it just kind of makes me think of like all the times where I'm just with people in real life. And you don't have an explanation for why you don't like something or for what's going on with them.
01:59:38
Speaker
It's just a vibe. And you're just like, and and she even mentions like later, like there's no line that was cross that,
01:59:50
Speaker
because with how he operates and the circles that you're in, everything is a very gray space. And it's just incredibly like, because of that, I don't know. It's such an ambiguous reality that yeah works within. um yeah.
02:00:17
Speaker
I remember what it reminded me of, um, it at times, um is i've I've considered signing up or trying to sign up for reality TV shows, ah competition shows in particular, because I think they'd be fun to play. The issue, though, that I come back to sometimes is that when you sign up for those shows, most of the time, Love Island in particular is one I looked into just because i was curious about how there were some articles about it. know Not that I wanted to play Love Island, but I was curious about how there were there were some articles that came out about some negative press and lawsuits and stuff. Gotcha. um And i was I kind of went down a rabbit hole of rights in, think I watched the Legal Equal video on it, actually. um
02:01:04
Speaker
Anyways, one of the things with it is when you sign those contracts, part of what you don't necessarily realize is you were signing away the right to your image as portrayed in the show.
02:01:16
Speaker
and basically, you anything you do on the show, the show owners have the right to portray you and use your image, not only for the season you're on, but in perpetuity to promote your season, to do anything related to the show. They can use your voice. They can use clips. They can use your face. They can use your pictures you take with them.
02:01:37
Speaker
You basically sign over your entire image. And even to the point of like kind of a bit of social media control because they basically will say the reason you have any social media following now you went from, you know, 50,000 to 2 million followers is because of us. So, you know, like we, you kind of sign over some rights even to your social media image, not completely, but some, uh, at least during the timeframe you're on the show and stuff like that. So just the idea of like, I can imagine these people being like, Hey, I'll pay you really good money for, if
02:02:12
Speaker
photography session just sign this contract not realizing oh i signed a distribution contract and not just like you know a photography contract like like a promise you'll pay me is some people who've been on shows like that are like i don't like the way i was portrayed and i wish they wouldn't have shown me that way like that's not who i am at all and now there's real world consequences for me because everybody thinks i'm an asshole because that's who i was on the show but i'm not that person that's just how they showed me to be yeah yeah yeah Because they can cut, this is something that's interesting brought that up, because that was something that happened, ah i don't watch The Bachelor or Bachelorette anymore, but a couple of years ago I i was watching it and there was somebody who was like on the show. They weren't like one of the main people, but they were kind of one of the more background characters that ended up, you know, leaving. But like, it was very much that their audio and their footage was cut a certain way to make it seem like they were this kind of like pompous asshole. And the guy was like...
02:03:14
Speaker
Like, that's not what happened. Like, they cut two separate scenes together to make it look like, you know, I was reacting this way to that question. But, like, that's not what happened at all.
02:03:26
Speaker
Exactly. yeah But you don't have any control of that because they can do whatever they want with the footage. And you... Because they're trying to tell a narrative. They're trying to keep the audience engaged. And they'll do that because it's good for their ratings. And you've signed a contract, so...
02:03:40
Speaker
Bummer. Fun fact, too, about reality shows. Most of them, like Love Island or ah ah The Bachelor, Bachelorette, they'll use opaque drinking glasses.
02:03:51
Speaker
So you don't know at what time of night the footage is being taken because you can't see how much of their drink they have left. It's a little little clever editing trick. you can piece together bits and pieces from all throughout the night however you want, whatever order you want, because...
02:04:08
Speaker
The continuity of having a drink here and then here and then here and then here is not a concern if you can't see it. Yeah. That's a big brain skeezy producer things. There's a lot of, there's a lot of weird shit.
02:04:22
Speaker
You might even say big. ah Thanks for bringing us back. Yes. Yes. Anyway. Yeah. Again, yeah it' I'm happily married. I'm not interested in Love Island. the the idea I just want to clarify that. The idea of me being on a reality show and me mentioning Love Island were two separate thoughts. that Of course. Similar concern. I'd rather, I want to be on Survivor is the kind of show I want to be on. if i'm I was about to say it's probably Survivor. We all have guessed, but thank you.
02:04:48
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I just wanted to clarify that. for I know you guys know, but the audience may not. Be like, wait, I thought... thought Nick was married. Who's going to tell his wife?
02:04:59
Speaker
ah Oh, man. yeah I'm actually going to edit this whole episode in into make it look fully yeah fully out of order chronologically. because There you go. there you go That's the theme of the show, right?
02:05:16
Speaker
I haven't seen the show, but there's a clip from Bob's Burgers that I've seen a few times where the wife is like to the husband, like, you'd tell me if you had a second family, wouldn't you? And he's like, of course I would. I need your help. That sounds like a lot of work. Yeah. ah Which was great.
02:05:34
Speaker
That's funny. um Yeah. Well, Big Picture also points over to the fact that something is screwy in the world. who um and so But it's interrupted by a crisis call from Rain. Yeah. He's like, you got to get back here, man. Shit's going down. Yeah. That is how he sounds.
02:05:57
Speaker
Not to rain on your plane. Oh, geez, Vic. Oh, my God. he He is Morty, isn't he? He's just Morty with like, I hate to say it. Oh, I totally heard that as Shaggy. Not as Morty. But like yeah, What are we going to do? It also works. It also works. It goes both ways.
02:06:15
Speaker
Oh, my God. Yeah, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Scooby snacks. Well, he's eating all the Scooby snacks and in fact has gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Well, not quite, but you know what i mean?
02:06:30
Speaker
His hand in the cracking jar, you might say.
02:06:34
Speaker
Oh, I don't like that. No. Is that? See, that's a callback to. glowworm the her nickname was Kraken in a Jar. Right. yeah you Do you want to call back to G-String Girl while you're at it? oh No! Wait, who's G-String Girl?
02:06:56
Speaker
Also Sveta when she was... Oh, yeah, that's right. We have to move on. forgot about it yeah we need to We have a lot to cover. and we did We did sort of ah speak this moment into existence and I ah do hate all of us for that. know. We knew it was coming, right? It was it was coming. we're gonna be setting as soon As soon as Weld took Victoria aside and was like, hey. we're like We were all like, no.
02:07:26
Speaker
yeah yeah There it is. Damn! yeah Damn, damn, damn. i Damn, it's never a good way for things to happen like this because you say because they you say things you don't really mean, but you're feeling pressure to, like, jab at the other person and you end up doing shit.
02:07:52
Speaker
it goes bad like this is ah but also at the same time there's this kernel of truth because we know because we know of weld and victoria's conversation there's this kernel of truth underneath it all and weld you know he's a he's a sweet boy but boy howdy is he thick in the head and this is this just oh man oh man oh boy foot in mouth Yeah, I mean, when, when Sveta's going on about how she like, obviously has no memory before her trigger and like didn't get to learn all of this from her perspective, right? Like that was just so hard to read.
02:08:36
Speaker
How do you, how do you get, how do you start life like as a teen basically and have to, deal with all that comes with that without having any concept of growth or or yeah prep for any of that and and then on top of that being unable to like actually act on any of that ah those feelings and desires is is rough yeah yeah And just, I think her saying, you know, tell me it's my cooking. Tell me it's, it's, I'm too clingy. Like just in the desperation of she just, yeah because if it's that she can control it.
02:09:21
Speaker
She can take a step back from cooking. She can be less needy or whatever. And it's like this moment of like, just tell me it's something that I can fix, that I can change, that I can control. Cause this is something I cannot control.
02:09:36
Speaker
And that is just so heartbreaking. Just.
02:09:41
Speaker
Oh, yeah gosh. I mean, it's. It's hard because like that is unfortunately how. i I feel like that is how especially couples when you have a couple and they don't start out this way, but one of them ends up with a disability at some point.
02:10:02
Speaker
um I wonder if this is kind of a similar feeling to that where it's like Weld is a good person. He wants to do the right thing by Sveta. However, can they have a real relationship in the way that both of them need as they are in the same way that like, I mean, and there's a reason why, you know, we look up to those couples who were like, oh,
02:10:26
Speaker
They had a bad car accident and she was paralyzed from the neck down, but he took care of her and stood by her for the last 30 years of her life. You know, like there's a reason why we look at those people and we're like, wow, that's amazing. Because I think we inherently recognize when you switch roles from being equal to set a relationship to being a caretaker.
02:10:51
Speaker
It's, you know, it changes. The difference is that Weld and Sveta were kind of always that way in a way. yeah It's sort of like Weld was always Sveta's caretaker first. and And then it developed into a romantic relationship.
02:11:04
Speaker
But maybe it never should have. Maybe that's where they went wrong in a sad way. It's like maybe it shouldn't have turned into that type of relationship. I don't know.
02:11:16
Speaker
yeah I think about ah it's like season two of the newsroom. um You have your like Boy Scout character and he is just the nicest guy in the world. And this one girl ah essentially breaks up with him because she's like, look I know that while you love me, you don't love me like this other person.
02:11:43
Speaker
You're just really nice. And you would be, you know, we we would look back at the same time now and you would love me as much three kids and a 20 year marriage into this.
02:11:59
Speaker
And then you would figure out like, oh, this isn't what I want. I've just been nice this whole time. like, because you're a nice guy and you would just never figure it out. Like, you're just too nice to think about being selfish.
02:12:13
Speaker
And this is, I think about that a lot with characters like this, where it's like, Weld and Sveta are probably together because Weld's a really nice guy.
02:12:27
Speaker
And, you know, he's all about, you know, taking care of people and whatnot. And, how much of that fed in into, you know, Sveta is someone to take care of and to be there for.
02:12:42
Speaker
And she really likes him. And what is a nice guy supposed to do except for like, take care of somebody who needs him, you know?
02:12:53
Speaker
And they find themselves years down the road. And, you know, he brings up with Vicky, like, i like i don't I don't think this is what I want. like Yeah.
02:13:12
Speaker
Yeah. and And, you know, and so that says ah it's rough for both of them. Obviously, Weld's a bonehead. Yeah.
02:13:25
Speaker
And Spets is right. Like, he is a nice guy. So what is he supposed to do but the right thing every time? And, you know, because it's this, like, he would never break up with her because wouldn't be the nice thing to do.
02:13:45
Speaker
yeah But, you know, if he could somehow unintentionally, like, subconsciously, essentially force her to break up with him, Yeah.
02:14:00
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and there's like, i want them both so desperately to be happy and fulfilled and with a partner that is just everything that they, i want that for both of them so desperately.
02:14:20
Speaker
And i I can't help but see this kind of trauma bonding that's happened between them. i mean, there they have a they do have a lot of things in common. ah Honestly, being Case 53 is is a is a You can't ignore that. And that's a really... a big commonality. And... But that's not a reason to be together.
02:14:43
Speaker
And, like, just because you've gone through a lot with somebody isn't... Reason enough to stay together. But at the same time.
02:14:54
Speaker
What about that commitment. Of standing beside somebody. Through the thick and the thin. Like it's really. It's a tough one. And I.
02:15:07
Speaker
I mean, there's no good answer here. Like, I mean, the easy answer is like, okay, we'll just stay together and like so suck it up, basically. Like deal with it because no relationship is perfect. And this is going to be your thing that you're just going to have to struggle through.
02:15:23
Speaker
And i I just, I hate that. i would I would hate that for anybody to be in a relationship because they feel like they have to. And they have to stay out of a sense of obligation. And that's just like, I don't want that for them, but I also don't want them to be alone.
02:15:43
Speaker
And there's this, what Sveta says about the how come he gets to have the fame and he gets people to love him and he gets a normal-ish body and he gets to kiss actresses on TV shows and he gets the the father figure and what do
Self-Discovery and Acceptance
02:16:03
Speaker
I get?
02:16:03
Speaker
I don't get anything. I don't get any of that. yeah And like that hits... That, oh, that hurt me deeply. No, that part, and and two, I don't want to miss, there's been this undercurrent throughout this half of the arc that we haven't talked as much about, which is a couple of bits where we notice number one, Sveta is controlling herself a lot better. She's been having sessions with rain.
02:16:29
Speaker
I mean, she's walking around in a dress. She's got the fake arms, but other than that, like she's just walking on her own, you know, five, six, seven tentacles or whatever. ah yeah you know, but she's, she's moving more like a normal person. She's getting closer to not to have in a body maybe, but to,
02:16:51
Speaker
you know, passing is having a body, you could say. um yeah And then on top of that, there's also that little bit about her losing the body that Rain made her, which was a really big deal.
02:17:03
Speaker
to her losing that autonomy that safety of the body and then also underneath that we have Victoria inquiring about ah the the group the villain group that's like worked orchid yeah like Orchard or Orchard or or Orchard yeah Orchard who also had a connection to Big Picture we talked know there as well yeah that was that brief moment of her still looking for like I want to try to find a way to help her and Weld have what they both need In terms of her body, in terms of his needs. And it does become that kind of, oh, this is the perfect time for somebody to insert something that would make them upset at each other.
02:17:46
Speaker
And then it it comes back to what Victoria says, like, hey, Master Stranger Protocol is like, yes, this is all true. Maybe the pictures themselves weren't true, but these feelings are true. But we need to still be careful that this is being planted at a time when you're meant to feel vulnerable and to separate us.
02:18:05
Speaker
Right. But it still sucks because Victoria does know and we know Weld has been feeling all of these things. He just hasn't yeah had a chance to say it or hasn't. He's been waiting like Victoria advised him to and then something came up and they figured it all.
02:18:20
Speaker
so Yeah. Well, I mean, it was before they had the talk technically. Yeah. when they were away. Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. No, I like what you said. that It makes me think of a lot of things, but specifically talking about her body of like, she, in order to,
02:18:41
Speaker
ah in order to function, she's essentially been moving around in um this, you know, this suit. And that's been, you know, the best it can be for her.
02:18:54
Speaker
um She can decorate it. She can dress it up, but it's not, it's not her. um It is ah casing around her at best, um but it's better than the ball, you know, and then it takes the breaking of that and her being forced into the just essentially having the arms kind of, and having to go through these training sessions with, with, uh, rain that like, you're right. She is seeming more in control of herself. And I kind of wonder if she didn't have,
02:19:34
Speaker
if she didn't lose the body, if she wouldn't be able to the continue progressing to be in more control, you know, not that it's not convenient or whatnot to have, you know, this, this body that was hers, but you know, it is shell and learning to becoming more so of herself.
02:20:01
Speaker
Um, being a more important thing. um You know, because want her to let go of the crutch kind of thing.
02:20:13
Speaker
yeah And, and, you know, we'll flip that and think about, you know, other people in this case, Victoria, like Victoria has been so antagonistic towards herself.
02:20:26
Speaker
ah And she, you know, outputs that to the wretch. um you know, verbally a lot of times. And she gets put in the situations where because of the danger and whatnot, she... Yeah, she gets put, you know, put these situations where she essentially has to come to terms with the wretch.
02:20:54
Speaker
And... you know, it's not, there's no going around the path. Uh, it's a long, you know, road that doesn't get you there. Eventually you have to go through it.
02:21:06
Speaker
Um, and so like her, like, Oh yeah, if I don't think about the wretch, if I don't let it do its thing, you know, then we're fine. And so far, you know, that doesn't work.
02:21:19
Speaker
Uh, you gotta, you you gotta, go through it, you've got to come to terms with it. um Otherwise it's just going to be an ever present horror that just kind of surrounds you all the time.
02:21:32
Speaker
um You know, for whatever that represents. um Our patrons points out Sveta is, I don't know if this is straight from, you know, wild bow or just, you know, interpreted in there, but Sveta is a trans allegory um and her just having to want,
02:21:51
Speaker
have a normal body that she can function in. um Yeah. It's, yeah. It's really It's writing right there. And it's very good writing.
02:22:06
Speaker
Yeah. ah And so, that would you know, we're talking about I had something about with the conversation between Sveta and Weld. um And, you know, were talking about, oh, I know we were just talking about Kenzie and Aiden and about this growing resentment between them because Kenzie has this need for people.
02:22:32
Speaker
And Aiden is a nice kid. And Aiden will be really nice. and but at least, you know, he recognizes, hey, look, this is too much. I can't be this much for you.
02:22:53
Speaker
Like Kenzie, Kenzie is requiring too much of me and I can't do that. And because of that, it will lead to resentment. I don't resent her now, but it's, a I'm just tired and need to figure this out.
02:23:09
Speaker
And, Um, and I think the same thing, but he just, it's, it's the, if, if he'd figured it out way earlier, i think there's a lot of comparison between him and weld and Sveta and Kenzie in terms of how you handle somebody else who has a lot of issues and needs support, but,
02:23:35
Speaker
do you support them by, you know, and we've even talked like Kenzie and Darlene and Aiden have this weird little crush, kid crush thing going on, you know, and, you know, Sveta also had this crush on Weld and Weld clearly cares for, you know, and loves Sveta, but like, I think, yeah, there's a lot there. Yeah. Um,
02:24:05
Speaker
look at this real quick yeah uh and ah from wild though uh provided from rachel ah There's definitely room for interpretation in the direction, talking about the trans allegory. I kind of left the door open for it. I thought it was at least partially drawn from my own experience, which is more disability-centric. For me, the difficult difficulty was in getting a cochlear implant and having to make the hard choice between a sort of lonely existence where everything was harder, but where I had ears that were...
02:24:39
Speaker
ah on a B minus on a good day and a D minus on a bad day with devices and basically gun for an A with the very real risk of a permanent F and side effects beside.
02:24:50
Speaker
That's what fed into the mindset and interplay for Sveta's dilemma here. But I'd be outright lying if I said that the trans allegory wasn't something I was thinking about every step along the way.
02:25:02
Speaker
And as Jamin points out, the concept of body dysmorphia is a huge theme hanging around the entire story. Yes, for sure. I mean, it it that doesn't even play into what we just experienced with ah not big picture himself, but the pictures of people and talking about, you know, boudoir shoots and risque, you know, just being...
02:25:30
Speaker
ah comfortable in your body and, to you know, and your body being exposed in certain ways and seeing that from an outpost outside perspective.
02:25:41
Speaker
Um,
02:25:45
Speaker
it's, it's the concept of bodily autonomy, but your autonomy is being restricted by your very own limitations of who you are.
02:25:59
Speaker
Mm-hmm. instead of you know being pressed upon by outside forces. Yeah.
02:26:12
Speaker
Good stuff. Mm-hmm.
02:26:17
Speaker
Man. oh
02:26:24
Speaker
That just leaves one question, of course.
02:26:29
Speaker
Sveta or Weld, which one's dying? Oh no! Don't put it out there. i can't stand it. It's out there. No takebacks. not Especially since Sveta's literally the chapter ended with Sveta being like, oh, you're going? I'm going with you. like yeah here hear Hear me out. no ah And the last thing I said to Yamada was I hate you.
02:26:51
Speaker
yeah No! How dare you? How dare you? i Think about it. Think about How do you make the entire fandom hate Yamada for a second and then you kill her for wheels this time? I don't want about it. regret I regret hating her. I regret everything. I shouldn't have said those things. She was under a lot of stress. My words have already been immortalized on this podcast. I...
02:27:15
Speaker
stand with what I said earlier about being let down. hold Can you see through fluffy tail that is Beckford's I'm really trying. I'm really trying. ah Also, well in the wake of the sadness yeah in the wake of the sadness, ah Rachel got a bingo.
02:27:32
Speaker
um Oh, yeah! Go bingo, go bingo, go! They go past 10.30. ah Love for Ratcatcher. The breakup makes someone sad, and Nick goes full teacher.
02:27:47
Speaker
Fair enough. I accept that. At some point, I must have gone full teacher. He has laid across the entire... I feel like Nick Gospel Teacher is just Nick also ripped. Nick tells us about something he knows that we don't... yet Also, yeah for the cat, as you can see, there's the boy right here, and he has slinked all the way across. Classic. phone, my mouse, my keyboard. Classic. Under his butt.
02:28:16
Speaker
yeah Oh, and he's moving the mouse across the screen with his butt. All right, come on. It is getting late, so to wrap it up, any more thoughts on those ah on that chapter?
02:28:29
Speaker
We have to talk about Kenzie in this chapter. Yeah. So we find out that Kenzie may have read right the diary May have. She did. Most of it. here's She admits. Here's what I will say.
02:28:44
Speaker
Yes, your theory. also yeah Go, go, go, go. The theory, yeah not entirely original. I will give credit to the comments because they caught this pretty quickly on. Victoria, just moments before, tells Weldon Sveta, do not trust anything electronic.
02:28:58
Speaker
Do not trust any digital communication. What happens immediately after is Kinsey communicates electronically with Victoria and says, I've read your diary And Victoria's like, I'm so sorry. were never meant to read. Like, that's not mine. That's not true. Yeah. Kinsey. Kinsey is surprisingly calm.
02:29:22
Speaker
Yes. For finding out that one of her trusted parental figures has been has been manipulating her this whole time. yeah And she's like, oh, I just thought that's how adults were.
02:29:34
Speaker
i don't know if that vibes with the Kinsey we know. Mm-hmm. true. However, we do know that she's very okay with like actually using her yes also true as well. Like, yeah, he's like, oh, just use like her relationship with her parents is obviously messed up. I do think there's enough room there to be to to have a seed of doubt, but also it could just be Kinsey disassociating and being like, oh, you don't think that? Okay.
02:30:03
Speaker
oops Yeah, there's she there.
02:30:10
Speaker
I
02:30:14
Speaker
basically, yes I'm sure Alan probably heard it as I was listening to this part. I'm literally just sitting back in my chair because I wasn't working at that point. i'm just sitting here freaking the fuck out and just going, no, Kenzie, Kenzie,
02:30:26
Speaker
Because it was like, she's basically like, no, it's okay if you did treat me like that because I know that like I could trust you. And to me, that's very Kenzie. of being like, well, no, because it's you, it's okay. It's like, no, it's not okay. That's in fact terrible behavior and you should not let anybody treat you like that. Even if it's somebody that you care about and you love and you think has your best interest in mind. No one should be treating you like this. No, Kenzie, no. No, Kenzie, no! Is basically what I was chanting through that whole section. And so I i would like to believe
02:30:59
Speaker
That this is some more Master Stranger nonsense. But I don't trust it because Kenzie just... Sure. This is this is mentality we've seen from Kenzie before.
02:31:11
Speaker
And we're coming right off of Chicken Little being like, yeah, she's been pushing through her boundaries. And we see it. She like bear hugs Victoria. And Victoria's like, oh and we have rules for a reason.
02:31:25
Speaker
I just... I want it to be... master stranger but i don't it's convincing enough which we've seen already that like whatever is behind this it is clearly really good at recognizing what people do and behave and act like so yeah you know Yeah, it's too it' too accurate for it to be like, oh, Kenzie went rogue and is doing all of this, right? Right. It's way too accurate. It's way too way too complex for just her, but it it's someone who has got a very similar power set, it feels like, or or access to data in that way. Yes?
02:32:16
Speaker
I have a theory. I have a theory. Hannah's theory. Machine army? Finally? Are we finally going to get her machine? we finally getting the machine army?
02:32:29
Speaker
That would be great. I'll don take it. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Tattletail says something very briefly about it in her chapter when she's theorizing. She talks about ah these people or a machine, and then she quickly moves on.
02:32:45
Speaker
And I was like, a machine? So let's think about, like, Okay. And recognizing patterns and pattern prediction and like being able to take in a bunch of data, which if you are a machine and Kenzie is on your team, you have constant and complete access.
02:33:07
Speaker
and You can analyze behavior. You can analyze history and you can utilize that to predict and create and manipulate.
02:33:19
Speaker
we have We have text manipulation. with with text manipulation We have text. We have now video and audio and foot photography, potentially, and more cell phone stuff. That's all built around this idea of past behavior And matching it, it's like, it's like um it literally made me think of um training an AI off of someone's existing voice and then having them say something. It's like, it's not that person's voice, but if they're trained off of enough data, they can say something in the voice that sounds pretty damn close.
02:34:02
Speaker
Enough to make you wonder, did I say that? Like...
02:34:08
Speaker
I just, this is this is my theory. I think it's Machine Army. I think, like, yeah I think it could be that. Like, that could be fun. I don't know. I'm here for it. I like the idea. No, not a bad idea. i I've been waiting for the Machine Army for too damn long.
02:34:24
Speaker
Yeah, really. No, they're not they're never going to come. It's going to be like, there's something like that, I feel like, in a movie or something where it's like, oh, the such and such is coming, and it just never arrives. Well, winter is coming, and it never arrives. Thanksgiving, yeah, yeah.
02:34:38
Speaker
Yeah, Game of Thrones, yeah. um yeah Yeah. ah But no, i I think it may be the simpler answer of Teacher. um Oh, no, I hate it. I hate Teacher. i don't want to give him that much credit.
02:34:55
Speaker
I mean, yeah, his Dr. Robotnik-looking ass doesn't deserve much, but you know what? you know
02:35:04
Speaker
I think of all the logical villains, like... Of all the planted villains we know about so far, Teacher makes the most sense to me. Or the Simurg, who is now being very active. It's a little too active for the Simurg, but yeah in conjunction with someone. because the Because the one thing that trips me up on all of this is that is that Victoria's diary alluded to her wretch by name, which to my knowledge, literally nobody knows except Victoria. Is that right? And and Jessica Yamada.
02:35:44
Speaker
Yeah, and Yamada. And wouldn't Yamada keep notes? Yeah, yeah. And wouldn't a hive mind computer read those notes? That's why I'm like, I'm feeling like this is...
02:35:56
Speaker
I don't know. Machine army, unless we find out there's somebody at the head of the machine army or some, some like very good AI intelligence, like a broken dragon or something. Like, I feel like me Machine Army feels too impersonal to make such personal attacks, right? They're more of, like, the the existential threat of, like, one day there could be this large force that comes through a portal we have to deal with. Whereas, to me, a teacher or a Dinah or a Simmer feels more like it could do the more personal threats. Leaning more Dinah or teacher. Or even, like, Contessa or somebody like that.
02:36:35
Speaker
I wonder if Contessa might show back up? Yeah, Contessa might be working for Teacher. where is she at No, I don't want to hear it. want to hear it. black I did see Hannah's brain.
02:36:49
Speaker
that You were thinking of the of the other dragon, Pandora. Pandora? That would be so cool. What a great callback, though, if that was it, right? like She's just like, you tried to banish me. like you You thought. right yeah You thought. And then just the machine army rises up. I just. know who strings Maybe the machine army is Pandora. Love it.
02:37:16
Speaker
Yeah. it'd be I just think it would be so. Could be. Fun if this were it. Like all of the media stuff. It would be very good. Yeah. It's been alluded to a few times.
02:37:28
Speaker
Yeah. We need to fire Chekhov's gun. Like. go Yes. I will say I'm i'm very much... and I'm kind of annoyed that we got a little taste of the machine army. I feel like I've been like paranoid about it now, like waiting for it to happen, and I don't know if it ever will. like Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I don't know. but but
02:37:52
Speaker
We'll see. I trust the bow. I trust the bow. After the past couple of episodes, my trust in the bow has been restored. Yeah, really.
02:38:06
Speaker
I'm very excited to read the rest of this arc. I really am. nor ah Yeah, I'm very excited. i Normally, I'm like, I read two days before podcasts because I like it fresh, but I might be reading tonight. Yeah. The next chapter. I might listen to a chapter here. Yeah.
02:38:27
Speaker
all right well is there anything else otherwise think we're at the end of our yeah the only thing we might do is favorite powers there weren't really any new powers but i did just want to call out snuff who uh sends a cigarette into a black hole I love it!
02:38:45
Speaker
And the smoke. And all the smoke. And he's like the dust. And the snow. that's So are well cool. I like him a lot.
02:38:56
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I like Snuff. Good side character as well. Again, lots of like great little character moments that made these chapters memorable. and that's a I don't know what he can do with those tiny black holes, but it's a cool power.
02:39:08
Speaker
give him props for it. He can do a lot with tiny black holes. It's true. Ratcatcher knows you can do a lot with tiny black holes. Bruh. Oh, bad.
02:39:20
Speaker
Oh, boy. We want to talk about who we would think the who we want slash who we think the interlude is going to be also. Oh, gosh.
02:39:32
Speaker
No, I should get chapter eight and then an interlude. Maybe. I think it's and then an interlude. Next interlude, who you want? I... Weld.
02:39:44
Speaker
Oh, Weld would be so good. Weld or... i would take a Sveta interlude. So they're leaving, and then we're going to get one more chapter of some maybe shit goes down, and Sveta, like, acts out. And then if we got a Sveta interlude right after that, that would be really sweet.
02:40:04
Speaker
Or whoever is behind this, obviously, if they reveal that in an interlude. ah you know, we get the perspective. Ah, the Yamada interlude. Not so soon. Actually, I'd take it just by Yamada. It was Danny. Anything to give us a bit more insight. Danny doesn't have the best ball.
02:40:22
Speaker
but i So you thought. We just get an interlude. It's all binary. Just bunch of zeros and ones. There you go.
02:40:33
Speaker
Jarvis, load up another narwhal interlude for me, please. Make it twice as long. all Jarvis, make her seven feet tall. ah give her Give her a horn.
02:40:47
Speaker
yeah ah All right. Well, cha Chad's killing me. I not heard about the pale epilogues, but ah I would love to hear more.
02:41:03
Speaker
al Beckford is digging his nails into my knee. um i Since I feel like I'm close to the end of pale. um We'll see how that goes. I'm excited. I hope they come out before I finish.
02:41:16
Speaker
They haven't already. Rachel says that next week Uber and Leet. It was Uber and Leet. That's what i was like It was Uber and Leet all along. Leet all along. Classic. Jarvis, laugh hit me with a circus interlude.
02:41:31
Speaker
Yes. Next week. Or not next week. When are we doing this? When's the next time? two weeks Two weeks. Two weeks from now, I'll be out of town.
02:41:41
Speaker
Yes. Two weeks from now, I'll be out of town. So we were thinking that might be a community. community time yeah March 10th perhaps would be the next one.
Community Engagement and Future Plans
02:41:52
Speaker
Would we be back on our Tuesday schedule or our Monday schedule? Because it's been kind of wonky since the start of the year. It's been 2026 and off to a wobbly start. Such a rough start. Scheduling wise. and Monday's fine. We can keep Monday either way. I don't know.
02:42:08
Speaker
Yeah, it works for me. I'm going out on a Monday. all right i just just don't want Alan to be right though, you know what I mean That's what I was thinking, Michael. Inside me there are two wolves.
02:42:20
Speaker
One of them wants Alan to never be right. yeah The other needs Alan to be wrong. Do you guys really prefer Monday? I was going to say this earlier. He is the handsomest man on this podcast. Look at him. Oh my gosh. How about we as a group circle back on what day we want to do? We'll circle back on that and also circle back on the official day because the more day I need to get on the Patreon and see on the Discord and see what day works best for the most people on the Patreon to hang out.
02:42:57
Speaker
So let us know and for the rest of you keep your eyes peeled on Mondays. Um So yeah. ah So yeah. But the the next official official um will be, i guess, March, technically.
02:43:17
Speaker
Holy shit. February has gone back. February has gone back. februarybuber scott Yeah. Crazy. Crazy quick. But yes, exciting for a community stream in two weeks, either the 9th or the 10th, not the 9th. That will be so much fun. I'm very excited. twenty third or the 24th, one of the two guys.
02:43:39
Speaker
And we get to hang out and chat and you guys are always a blast and we want to do more stuff with you anyway. So we just an excuse that Nick's gone to hang out.
02:43:50
Speaker
Basically. March Madness. Exactly, Bernard. yeah Thank you. Nick being gone. can hang out. Finally. Now you guys can have fun now that the old fuddy-duddy is gone. The old fuddy-duddy.
02:44:02
Speaker
Exactly. As somebody pointed out, that teacher-looking motherfucker. yeah You've got me. You had him. I am teacher.
02:44:16
Speaker
All right. Well, um, with nothing, thank you so much for showing up. Uh, lots of great, uh, comments. Love hanging out with y'all. Um, of course, join us on discord.
02:44:29
Speaker
You know, we'd love to have you as one of our patrons, uh, just so we can chat it up. I'm like I said, I'm trying to finish pale. Uh, I'm on arc 18 now. So,
02:44:40
Speaker
um you all want to talk about, we have a pale spoilers channel. You can ah give me your thoughts on the, on that serial. But on that, we'll figure out a good time to be back up. We'll be reading. Next time we read, it'll be 13.8 the end, So that'll our next. Cliffhanger for while.
02:45:01
Speaker
um so that'll be our cliffhanger of reading for a while Oh gosh, whole freaking month, basically. I'm tuned, though. Let me stew on that one.
02:45:11
Speaker
yeah And, yeah, Michael, do you have a song for us? Let's do it. song? Join the Patreon. Please come on and join the Patreon.
02:45:23
Speaker
Why don't you just join the Patreon? Come support us and join the Patreon. Please help us and join the Patreon.
02:45:40
Speaker
Join the Patreon and see us when the camera's not rolling. Raw. Uncensored. Come along now.
02:45:53
Speaker
The kiss gets me every time.
02:45:58
Speaker
All right, guys. You've been the best. You're always a delight. We'll see you in two weeks. And stay tuned on Discord and here on YouTube to know the exact date.
02:46:10
Speaker
Bye.