The Butcher's Masquerade, Chapters 67-72

you're listening, appreciate you very very much. So yeah, this section I was saying at the beginning of my last recording, which was for Falling Free, one of the books in the Vorcosagain saga. But it's a weird thing that happens sometimes would spoil me where I will be covering a few properties that all have the same like plot beat happening at the same time, and it's just a coincidence.

But it's always wild when more than one book I'm covering has an evil twins suddenly show up, or more than one book I have that I'm covering is like we're about to have an extremely important fraught dinner party or something, you know, and right now, what is going on in Falling Free is also extremely far reaching plan that many people's lives are depending on, but which which relies a lot on factors outside of their control which are immediately going wrong, and some things that are within

their control going wrong because folks are unreliable. It is so stressful. It really is, like I enjoy reading it to a degree because like instantly I'm like, Okay, well, obviously that went really fucking wrong, But like, how are we going to get out of it? Is there going to be a way that our friends find, you know, to move past this? And I have to assume likely there is, because our means have plot armor. And that's fine, that's not a criticism, but it's just the way that

it works. But I know that likely even if our people, like our mains, don't die, that they are going to be forced to sacrifice something, and you know, maybe one of our side characters might die and I don't want that either, And yeah, it's just the whole thing to you guys. Look, I've said this before. It's coming as no surprise to anybody. Being a control freak as I am, comes from a place that is like having grown up

with parents that were certainly doing their best. I don't think all parents do do their best, I'll say that, but I believe mine were trying their best. But they were not equipped to be parents, really not really, and and I knew it, you know, it was like just growing up. I was very aware of the fact that like they didn't really know what was going on, and so I had frequent recurring nightmares that I was in the back seat of the car and they were having

an argument my parents and had forgotten to drive. There was nobody actually with their hands on the steering wheel, and I had to climb up to the front from the back seat in order to grab the wheel because they were not paying attention. It is the most obvious metaphor on planet Earth. And it is remarkable that I was having the stream when I was like seven years old,

but there it is. I my whole life have had this feeling of unease that people are not on it, that there is like a black hole beneath me with no safety net, and if I don't manage things myself and it goes wrong, it's going really fucking wrong. So this sort of storyline where you have got to like

trust the folks around you to do their job. Is extremely It gives me a type of anxiety that is very specific and personal that is irrational, I recognize and is out of proportion to the fact that this is fiction. But I still have it. And you know, I understand that mostly when you are relying on people in a life or death situation, folks do take shit seriously and

do do their best. But then you have shit that happens like Samantha, like wanting her own little mission but not doing any of the work involved in making sure that mission actually can be carried out. She wants to be involved, but she doesn't want to do the homework. And that is the kind of thing that not only do I feel like this weird sense in my gut of like, of course, of course you couldn't rely on her,

because you just can't rely on people. They just you know, there's also a kind of like a part of me that is very unreasonable that is going, Yeah, Carl, you decided to rely on Samantha. I am so sorry, bro, but you really just have yourself to blame for that. Like, I don't really understand what you were thinking in giving her such an important job, you had to know. Oh, It's it's not like Samantha never does anything right. It's more that when she does stuff right, it's incidental to

her doing what she wanted in the first place. Things end up going right despite the fact that she decided to not follow the plan, you know. And this here is like I like her, And that's something that's really saying something in terms of what I must feel towards because like normally, there is no quicker deal breaker for me as a reader or a viewer than a character being this particular kind of neglectful and unreliable. I will

really lose my patience quickly. As many folks have seen when I was back in the day covering Harry Potter. Hagrid is so many people's like favorite character or one of their tops, and I really cannot take him because he fucks up so relentlessly all the time, and I just can't take it. It's like it just bothered me in a way that it was just very much like you're supposed to be one of the fucking grown ups, and

what good are you? You know. So the fact that I actually still like Samantha despite the fact that she keeps doing this sort of thing. I just think that that really goes to show that I do like her, that this is like, you know what I'm saying, Like, but uh, I also feel so saddened at the fact that it doesn't seem she understands the importance of any

of this. It's bizarre how she can simultaneously be so instrumental in their plans because she knows certain things and has certain information, she can participate in the planning of things in like on a level. But then once it's time for the execution of the thing, it's like their lives are depending on this, and she just doesn't seem to like understand that or keep it in mind or maybe grasp that they just get like to they just get killed because she, being a god, doesn't really have

that perspective. I don't know. But anyway, sorry, Michael says, what besides, every moment we have seen her has given you cause to doubt her reliability. Rob says, the Samantha

of unintended consequences. Yeah, it's you know, she's very entertaining, but when it's time, like if she is being given something that is really clutch to do, that's on you give her something that is sort of mayhem, give her something to do that is distraction, that is her getting to like act up and letting her off the leash, so to speak. That's where she excels, is just going bonkers but doing something that requires the type of precision

they are asking for here, it's asking for trouble. And granted, there's literally nobody else who could really have pulled this off, because the whole thing that she's doing is, you know, in these little tunnels that she's the only one that could fit through. So I don't think they had another option if they wanted to carry the plan out this specific way. But then you have to figure something else out, like you know, I don't know what to tell you.

So anyway, everything is going very very wrong by the end of this section, and it's this odd combination for me in my guts of like excitement because I am first of all aware that there are likely some other contingencies that I'm not aware of because we don't actually get to like it's not like the way that the story is being told is front loading. Are the readers

with information about what the plan is. We are being given hints of what the plan is, as we go along, dropped into like the beginnings of each chapter as a replacement kind of for like sometimes not always, for the entries in the cookbook. So we're being shown basically what all was intended, right before we get the moment where

it all goes wrong. And because we don't have all the information, a part of me is willing to sort of like sit back and trust that there were contingencies they came up with that would figure that we could figure this out, or there are other plans that like we dropped, but aspects of it can be incorporated. But like, honestly, I really don't know any of that. It's just me having a kind of faith and the way that they

have to communicate just via writing. Coming up with these sorts of intricate plans is difficult enough when the people are sitting in the same room around a table talking freely, never mind the fact that they have to write on this board or whatever it is in a bathroom, wait for the other to eventually be able to make it up that they have to pee and go in there read it. Answer how slow the process must be to put anything together. It has to be fucking agony. You know.

So anyway, all that said, this whole thing is just really like balancing on a knife's edge, and it's one thing if a certain bit goes wrong, but it's that's not what we're seeing, you know what I'm saying. There's a What I keep thinking about, of course, is what do you call it? Ocean's eleven where we don't get to see the plan, We don't hear what the whole

thing is. It appears everything is going very very wrong, and then all of a sudden, the camera sort of pulls back and we get to see, actually, the things that looked like they were going wrong were part of the plan all along. And it's fine. That is not what's going on here. That's not, at least if it is, I am being very effectively snowed as a viewer reader. Sorry,

it is possible. I suppose that you know, this is all part of the that we're acting as if the things that aren't going according to plan are problems, and it's really exactly what we wanted, you know, like the kind of villain that gets arrested on purpose because jail is exactly where you wanted to be. Okay, possible, possible. I don't think so, though I really don't believe that's what's going on, and if it is, I'm not going

to be mad about it. Just for the record, I'm not saying that that is there's no way to pull it off, But I think that kind of plan would rely too much on the acting abilities of the people involved, and I just don't see us like even attempting it. I we'll see the number of things that go wrong. That's the part that gives me anxiety, one or two things where we have to like think on our feet

and adjust. Inevitable. Right, that's not what we're getting. We're getting huge sections of the infrastructure of this plan falling apart, and I don't know how you fucking adapt when it's you know, the Initially what Carl had said was like new plan, we don't attack at all, we don't do anything, we just party. And yet once everybody's in there, it does not seem to me at least that that's what's happening. So I don't know what's what. Mah, I don't know.

I don't know. So starting with chapter sixty seven, Vra had just spotted Carl and was like coming at him through this uh, this big ballroom to speak to him, and I really like Carl is so unafraid of her, and like, granted, right now you should be. You're not even in the same place. She can't do anything to you, you know, I understand this, But he's just really taunting her in a way that I deeply appreciate. I really wonder if I would be handling things like this, you know.

I don't know, because there's a part of me that feels like I would be too afraid in a real way. But another part of me feels like maybe if I were in this situation and I had gone through everything that Carl has gone through, there would be a sort of fatalism in me that would you know. And also always keeping in mind that a big part of the way this game works is performance. And if I'm aware that there's a camera on me and that behave in a certain way is going to get views and potentially

then sponsors, maybe I would be like this. Maybe I would fucking go for it. I don't know. So she says, I have a present for you, Carl, It's coming soon. And the as this conversation is going on, we have this thing with Brittany in the background, and it turns out that her jacket, which I was like, what is

this made out of? It is assembled of these slate butterflies, which are the little beanie babies essentially that can be brought to life, and she uses one to disable the alarm that goes off when an attack is made, like the safety thing the warning light, the lights glow slowly paled and the powered light faded away. A moment later, the common rarity some creature returned to a stuffed animal. I held my breath as it fell, hit the top of the ELF's spear and landed in Britney's outstretched hand.

The guard looked up as Brittany pulled the stuffed animal behind her back. He returned to his position. These things don't count as a spell, they don't count as aggression, and so they function here so they can turn this fucking alarm off. And later on he sees I think raw herself looking up and observing that the light is out, and is like, ah shit. So we find out a little bit later that the whole thing that we had suspected about the bunch of mantis babies being born that

is indeed happening. That is what's going on, it has been done. I knew that this was likely, but I still somehow like maintained this hope that it wasn't, even though were I in VRA's position, this is precisely what the fuck I would do, no question, you know what I'm saying. But I was like, I don't know, maybe maybe VRA's very dumb. Maybe no, no such luck. But

we'll get there in a moment. So let's see. Uh. I swear to you this, Carl, before this night is done, I will have your decapitated head on my back and takes off. So now, lucymr You guys, what's going on with lucymr? Is? It's still confusing. I think we're you know, we haven't been given all the information yet. It's so sad and overall is satisfying to me in terms of not only the weirdness of the mystery going on with her, but ultimately with Florin, because I was extremely concerned about him,

you know, and I wasn't mad. I understood why he felt how he felt. There was nothing in me that could really blame him, but that doesn't mean that he's not going to completely fuck our plan right up. You know, it was just this sense of inevitability that it was all going to go left in this like very particular way, and I didn't want to see it. I didn't want the plot beat of a hot headed person is goaded into taking action that is unwise because they can't control

their feelings of rage and desire for revenge. It is a well trod trope, and for a reason, because this is honestly a reality in the world, like, this is what happens. But it's not fun to watch because you know they are about to ruin everything for everyone. And I just wasn't looking forward to it. I'll say that and then we don't get it. And it was a real relief. I mean, I just didn't expect it to go the way that it goes, and for Flora to have the presence of mind to stop and look and

hear and think. You know, I expected him to do something stupid, to be almost to a degree motivated by resentment of Carl trying to tell him what to do, even where it would be like, not only am I doing this because I have the right to do it because of what happened to a person I care about, but I am irritated that you are trying to assert control over me. I'll show you, And so he does this,

you know what I mean. I was very worried that it was going to be ego driven in that way, and instead Florin has a similar reaction to her as Carl. When Carl first spots her here, It's interesting the Lajah Bless was here in her beautiful woman form, but she stood against the wall, chewing on her fingernail, eyes darting back and forth like she didn't know where she was. In that moment, I saw her for what she was,

a kid in an adult's body. And when Florin looks at her at for the first instant of him seeing her, of course he's just like, let me at her, and it takes very little time for him to stop and be like wait and to see what Carl also saw. I just love this, It's so it just it. I think the reason that this is speaking to me so much is that it's addressing the very thing that I was talking about the beginning of the episode with not

feeling like I can rely on people. Florin is displaying a maturity and a control that is not what I expect out of people most of the time. Frankly, it feels unlikely, and so a big part of me just doesn't really try to depend on it because it seems like it's extremely optimistic to expect this. And he came through. You know what I'm saying, He fucking does the self control grown up thing. I just didn't think he would.

And it's so comforting to have a moment of being like, oh, somebody on Carl's team has fucking self control and can be relied on in a way that I just took for granted wasn't possible or gonna happen. And it's nice. It's just really it's a nice surprise. I love that. However, we've got Katscha, on the other hand, busted out, like about to really start some shit today when she knows better, and like, I won't say that Katya undid the way that I was feeling, you know about Florin, where I

was so gratified. That's not what I mean when I say this. It's just more so that the direction this lack of control is coming from is so unexpected and in some ways sort of underscores the whole vibe of like you just don't have control over anything, and if you think you do, it's an illusion. And the whole thing with her and Eva is so ugh. Eva has over fifty player skulls over her head and four Hunter

Killer marks. That ratio is frankly unhidden. That's insane, Like, I just the fucked up nature of your priorities is so explicitly displayed in that ratio. It's out of control. It's remarkable that somebody else hasn't killed Eva by now,

like that people haven't teamed up against her. I understand Katcha's particular beef, you know, I get it obviously, but I would think that other people would have really clocked how like how much of a threat she is on a variety of levels, and decided, Okay, this is untenable. She's out here sabotaging shit, like, let's deal with her. And maybe they have. Maybe they have, and that's why she's got so many Player Killer skulls. Partially is that it's she know they tried to come at her and

they missed. But Kotscha is like, really, I was thinking that she was going to be more prepared for singing Eva than she is. It's I think a result of Kotscha sabotaging by taking all of those potions that were left for people in the locker room. It's just like kotcha being like even that you had to even ruin that you couldn't just leave that the fuck alone? Why are you like this? And that's literally what she says,

is just like, why are you like this? These are your people too, and Eva is the most I love the energy that she's written with because it's deeply infuriating, obviously, but it's also extremely recognizable. I am lucky in that I don't think I've ever met anybody in person that I've had a fight with that was like this, but I have absolutely encountered this type of person online. And

I don't even mean like strangers. I mean there have been people that I knew purely online that devolved to this quite quickly, and I was like, oh, you're that kind of person. But the what I mean by this is she immediately goes for the lowest blow, most petty, most hurtful week spot in a very like childish kind of way that it's almost it's not even that like she necessarily hits you where it hurts, and it gets

you because she hit you in that weak spot. It's for me more of the fact that she hits you where they like in a place where that's not even where what the argument's about. This isn't relevant, even that I am talking to you about a big picture thing and you're just trying to like confuse the issue by bringing up other shit that's irrelevant? Do you give what

I'm saying? And that part is what I really keep getting stuck on, is just the idea that, like when because people like this, it's so difficult to deal with them, because if you are like me, for example, it's a there's a sense to it of like I am trying to reason with you. I am trying to come at you with a logic that obviously you have no fucking interest in because you keep deflecting. And how do you like argue with somebody that is handling it like this?

How do you get through to them if what it seems like they actually want is to just sit back and insult you like a fifth grader on the playground. If they are this unwilling to even engage with the actual concerns that you're bringing up, then the futility of it becomes apparent really quickly, and is so disheartening and discouraging and ultimately just saddening. You know what I'm saying.

It just it sucks, man. I just really this is a person that I there are some people that I think really show you they make the world worse, and they are trying to make the world worse, and they have no interest whatsoever in improving. They don't care about the state of the world. It's about themselves and the world is better without them. When you behave like this, I think this is just like proof that you don't

deserve to live. If you have decided to make your whole deal about ruining the lives of other people and taking their lives as well, which is you know, like fifty player skulls, are you fucking kidding? Then I think you forfeited your right to live. And that's just that on that I don't really know how else to say it. So yeah, like just the way that she insults Kotya. I just want to be clear, I am not saying

that this has no effect on Kotya. It's just more that the effect that it has I think is very secondary. I think that it's really like Katya has built I think probably some immunity to it at this point, and that she's having a reaction the way I am describing where she's like I am trying to like reason with you and understand, and you're still doing the same boring shit where you insult me like this, really that's it. This is what you're coming at me with, Like are

you fucking serious? And I just can't imagine, in this situation with so many people trying to work together to make something happening, this much of a cunt. Like that's just really what it comes down to for me is truly, how are you this much of a fucking cunt? I don't where is this coming from. Something's broken in you, something's wrong with you? And eh anyway, So yeah, this is why Fannar couldn't stand you with your ugly brown hair,

piggy nose, constant whining. What kind of mother could you have possibly been? Like really, this is what you do. This is the kind of thing like it's just so fucking pathetic, it's so it's it's not even insulting anymore. It's like when somebody, you know, I'm trying to reason with them about how they're bigoted against immigrants and they call me fat. That's that's it, that's it, Okay, like

I would Okay, sure, that's very very relevant. Cool. So I love donut being like, oh yeah, I was thinking about you today and it reminded me that I need my litter box changed. And I am really curious where this is going. I just Eva is somebody that I have, honestly like, on a certain level, actively tried not to think about, which I don't really. I guess it's just like she was not present. There was only so much we could do, you know, like what else am I

going to do? And now that she's in my face again, a big part of me is like, we need to do we need to do this, We need to handle this bitch. Somebody do something like you know, what I'm saying in a way that I'm kind of feeling is probably not correct, But that's just how mad she made me, is that she and that's her goal too, I think, is like she wants to just make you mad so that she's trolling you, you know. Anyway, this she asked,

how's it looking back there? And she is talking about the layout of the stage, the lighting and everything, and how it's not what she was expecting that the place looks beautiful, but they do not have the facilities on par with the esthetic, which I fully understand what she means. And this whole vibe is like her irritation with this I get. It's so it's so funny to me in this section how much I relate to Donut you guys.

I mean, let's set aside the very obvious comparisons with both of us being performers and her being too much and me always being too much and being a little bit too ambitious for what I can actually do. Like all of that aside, I just felt like there was a kinship between us in this section that was stronger than it has been in any of the other books

so far. I knew this was going to be immature hour, but once you see it up close, you don't fully appreciate the level of an aptitude required to make something look this nice yet be so functionally inefficient at the same time, which is a put like, I feel like I have had this exact complaint verbatim about things in

my life. I just one thousand percent know where she's coming from on this and this type the very particular type of frustration that comes with it as well, because there's this sense of like you had it in your hand, you had it, you could have done something here. Why did you do this? Why is this the way the

direction you decided to go with it all? You know what I'm saying anyway, So Florin I needed to say focused, I can't be babysitting your ass, and Florence says, I'm good, get off my back, and Carl says, okay, I'm gonna trust you, and he says good out loud, and this is when he says, something's off with her anyway. She ain't acting right. I know that with that bitch don't mean much, but something ain't right. And eventually he investigates

and we will get there. When we get there, Prepotente comes up and he says, I need to join your party, and Carl straight up says, no, talk to Katya. She might be willing, but your level seventy and you'll end up the party leader of whatever party you join, and most established parties won't like that. Better yet, find some of those displaced EVA crawlers would It would only be

for the remainder of this floor. It's so we travel together to the start of the next I've been collecting clues and after speaking with Katchia, she informed me about donuts, magical hammer, and stick and they get interrupted here and I was so annoyed because I think that he knows something that he hasn't figured out. And Carl says, we're

bookmarking this. We need to get through the party first, and honestly, I get where he's coming from, but this feels like information that is important enough that it should be found out first. It feels like this is relevant to probably your plan for tonight, even potentially, And it's because Carl is just behaving like these are two separate issues, you know what I'm saying, where if we handle this the party first, then we can deal with the other thing.

And I'm really feeling like, no, probably this is like related to whatever. I just think Carl's is this decision to set this aside as a mistake, and I am worried about it biting him in a later and I guess we'll just have to see. So we get one of the Theobald coming up and making the announcements about how food is available trade in the hunter hands, YadA, YadA, YadA, and then we have this like bit here where fucking All of a sudden, Signet walks in and Zeb is like,

I fucking told you not to do this. Out of context, Carl is like what are you talking about? And Zeb is like, you know what I'm fucking talking about. Carl's like, I no, I really genuinely don't what are you talking about? And finally he looks up, sees Signet and is like, oh, fuck, okay, I understand this is not me. This was the AI. He had one of the NPCs go invite her. This has nothing to do with me. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. The AI

is diabolical. This AI is like the producers on a reality TV show just throwing gasoline on the fire and letting the cameras roll this. This AI is here for the lulls, Like fully just wants to watch the world burn kind of energy, you know what I'm saying. I just cannot like it's so good. I never expected it because I just thought there had to be some kind of fail safe built into the AI, Like I figured there had to be some way. No, the AI does

what it wants. Evidently it has completely gone. They keep saying gone. Prime I'm saying feral, which I think is like they're in some ways kind of the same thing this level though, of just flouting the rules and expectations. Something about this feels like, probably according to the estimations of a lot of the people involved, many other things the AI has done previously have been a bigger deal, but for some reason, this for me feels like the

biggest deal. This feels like a very particular type of like go fuck yourselves, I do what I want that we haven't seen before, and it just seems like we've crossed the line now and things are really beginning to pop off. I am thrilled. I can't wait to see what this is. So anyway, Imani is like, she can't help us if she's in the room with us, so apparently you know, they had her as part of a

plan and that is not happening now. And Carl says, I was worried this was gonna happen the second the Queen told me a pedo forms the guest list herself. I didn't even think of that because, like I even said at the time, she says, the pedo forms again, like we know that's not how it works, but sure whatever, Like I fucking addressed that thing and it still didn't enter my mind. And he's just like, so the whole thing is to test image in by bringing in one

of her biggest enemies and uh, Signet. Meanwhile, he's like pointing out to her, those are the people over there that are controlling everything, and you know, Zev is just in the sidelines, still just being like, Carl, what are you doing? But like, honestly, Signet, being here, the cat's out of the bag to a point, like, not in this way really, but I feel like it's just a

step away. If Carl doesn't completely tell her what's going on here, I feel like the AI is poised to do it on his behalf for the for the Lulls once again. So then we have the whole thing with Carl going to trade in his hunter hands for a prize,

and the prizes in general are kind of eh. They're not as weak sauce as like a chuck e cheese, but they are definitely the sort of thing where it's like, but we could make that, but we could, but we already haven't a lot of that, or that thing isn't even that difficult to find, or you know, blank like fill in the blanks. It's just nothing is really particularly excited exciting. Sorry, and he the person behind the counter here, reminder is Chaco, who tells carl All to please tell

Mordecai what happened. I regret it every day. But if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead, including him and his brother. That's all there is to say about it. They do that if you survive long enough in this place, they'll eventually make you turn on your own party. It happens every time. You'll regret making it as far as you have, no matter who is helping you, no matter how close you are, we're all alone in the end, alone and broken with the choices we've had to make.

He jerked as if shocked. It's not as if shocked. I fully believe that he was actually physically shocked, that this is the punishment for speaking out of turn this way, that he is not supposed to do this. So anyway, he's like, you have sixty six hunter hands, and it is just like God, damn okay, And it turns out that like and I don't. I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but I couldn't remember it until it was specifically said out loud, there is no way to give

other hunters or other crawlers the hunter hands. You have to like, get one really good prize. The hands you've got are the hands you've got, and even getting more hands tonight wouldn't really work unless you found a space where you could actually open the boxes and get them out and then are like you weren't You aren't able to leave the party and come back in. So there's really, if we're looking at the rules straight on, no way for Carl to get this thing that is at the

end of the table that is much much more. It's evidently a whole thing with the way that this spell works and the party works is that Imagen has to offer us one of her most valuable possessions. And so there is this particular crystal. I think it is that when Mordecai hears it sitting there, it's just like, oh shit, get that. But it's one hundred hands and Carl does

not have that. So now we have to find a way for Carl to gain the system somehow, and I do not know how he's going to do it, but I have no doubt he is this we're figuring it out you know. So then we get the beginnings of the talent show with the pets, and these people are coming out here with the least you guys. Look, I am not a person that likes cruelty, right, I don't

like making people feel bad. But I have a very high standard for something, and I will lose sight of the fact that what I hold as a standard is just my standard, that is not the fucking universal expectation. Other people have their own standards, and they have higher ones than I do for other things, and lower ones for things that I consider important. That's the way it

works in life. We all have our different priorities. But when it comes to aesthetic and performance and that sort of thing in the right arena, I have a standard that when people don't meet it, I can get mean in a cruel way that is like really not nice. And I know that about myself. Where I will see somebody has posted something that they made, Like there's groups I'm in on Facebook for like resin crafts, stuff like that clay, and people will post stuff that I would

never admit to having made in my life. You could not water board it out of me that I made that thing. It is a disaster. It's obviously mixed wrong. The colors are off, it's like cracked at the edges, it's full of bubbles. The color like it just there

are there. I see it all the time with people posting very proudly things that it just I would be ashamed of, literally, and so donuts whole reaction here to like the complete lack of preparation that these people have made for this competition, and how she's just like, oh, this is gonna be like candy from a baby, no problem. I have had this reaction to things before, and it's like it's not kind, but let's be very fucking for real.

Some people just don't try because it's just not as important to them, and that's okay, but it's it's just difficult for me to understand why you enter at all into a competition when you just seem to be unwilling to put forth any effort, Like what's why are you bothering? You know? Why? Why did you do it? So? Anyway, this whole performance, there's you know, him just telling the story about his hawk and what it does and YadA YadA.

And as this guy is doing this, we have Mordecai and Carl going back and forth on all of these different items, what they do, whether it's like worth it or not. And he asks Mordecai wants to know if there's any sheet music like your escape spell. You have a bard, Yeah, Doughnut sings. How would she can she hold a pitch? Ugh? I said, she's getting better. She

has a vocal coach in our safe room. That one, he said, pointing at a sheet of music ten hands, a song of Skedan, which is great, not quite as good as Wings of the Pixie, which is what he's talking about. But she wouldn't be able to sing that one for a while anyway. And there's a mention here about how the spell music works. And I didn't know this sheet music could be used more than once. It allowed of Bard to sing a song they normally couldn't.

The system helped them perform if they had the music in front of them, making it easier to pull off. But it still wasn't a sure thing. If the music was performed well and in key, it cast if not, the page tour just a little bit too many tears, and it was ruined if you managed to sing it perfectly all the way through, with perfect pitch. The song was added to your Bard spell book called Your Repertoire.

The sheet music didn't go away in that case either, so you could save it for duets or to sell later. The song Doughnut was going to sing this evening was easy for her because it was a song she'd been hearing her entire life. There was a bit of mystery, a chicken in the egg thing, but I had too much to deal with to wonder on it for wonder on it for long. So that being how the sheet

music works, I found that really interesting. And let's see who bought that seventh floor upgrade and floor pole position. And the next was called eighth Floor Book of Lore. Random starting location, full title will reveal itself upon purchase. There was a sign under boat that said limited to one each who bought that seventh floor upgrade. The goat he had thirty three hands. He was my first customer bought that skill up grade in a case of man epotions.

He didn't even ask about it, just walked up, pointed at it and took it. And the memorial crystal is the thing that is one hundred hands. Soul crystals are mined from Scolopendra's layer. They're created when certain types of people die. Crystals are similar, but they're created by fallen gods and demigods. They're filled with information, usually god tear level spells and knowledge. One can get the information out

of them by charging it up. You charge them up by installing it on a weapon or your armor, or just wearing it like jewelry and killing stuff. There's lots of storylines about these things, and it was discovered during a mining expedition by the High Elves. The Queen normally wears it around her neck. It's part of the whole butcher spell. They have to offer their most valuable item

as a prize. And this is when he tries to find a way through the fine print, and it just doesn't seem like there is one for getting more hands. I'll take the shrink wand the eighth floor lore book, that music sheet of skidadl, the case of twenty four featherfall potions, and a case of healing potions. So we'll see how this works. You know, like it seems like he's spent all his hands, but I feel like that

fucking crystal, we're still getting it. I don't know how, but something So this is when we get Donuts' first appearance on stage with Mango, because there's like the talent show thing, and Carl had said, keep it low key. We don't want to tip our hand. Your talent show production is going to be a little you know, extra, yeah, extra, but low key. Well this is indeed low key compared to what she has planned later according to her, which

I have zero doubt is true. And this is the thing, when you are dealing with somebody who is truly, genuinely actually extra, your frame of reference for what that means doesn't mean anything to them because they are thinking already so far beyond what you could even consider that it is impossible that you have the same standard at all about what Loki even means. You aren't operating with the same playbook, dude, So your idea of Loki in hers bear no resemblance to one another. And you should know

that by now. Honestly, Carl, like this is on you. You should be very aware of this at this point. There is no excuse, in my opinion, this was you should have seen this a mile away. And frankly, the tipping her hand that her thing is going to be high produced, I don't even think is a problem. I don't see why you're worried about that, because, if anything, she should stay as much in character as she can. Her thing later is going to be a huge deal, then why wouldn't she be doing a big thing for

this as well? Then I think suddenly doing a big deal for something after being low key on this, I think that's more suspicious. Personally, I feel like this is the better way to move. And I don't really get Carl's thoughts on this, but you know, this is like I'm just I'm thinking of the number of things out there that I could I'm so sorry. I'm just remembering, like, you know, a decade back when I first moved down here, I got a job at a bank, and I got

that job. It was like a couple months before Halloween, and they were having a pumpkin carving contest and it was like called pumpkin carving, but technically it wasn't carving, Like people brought in pumpkins that they had painted and stuff like that, and it didn't have to be real pumpkins. You could use you know, the artificial like whatever. And I built this incredible castle out of artificial foam pumpkins.

And I made like fill green windows and towers, and it had like actual like glass panes in it because I had jars that I like spray painted with stencils over them that I peeled off and I filled it with string lights so it glowed. And when I tell you, guys,

this thing was beautiful. It was really beautiful. It was so fucking far beyond what anybody had thought, like, And when I tried to explain what I was planning to my husband, he was just like how, because you know, I started off with a bunch of fucking foam pumpkins and a bunch of glass jars and that was all I had on the table. And I was like, so this is what I'm gonna do, and he's looking at me like if you say so, but I just that sounds like it's not gonna work. And then once it

was all put together, he was like, holy shit. I was like, I tried to tell you, and I brought it in and everybody was just sort of like, why don't I just take my pumpkin? What's the point? And then I got fired, So my entry had to be

removed from the competition because I got fired. And I remember one of the girls that I was like, I still like texted for a second after I was fired, was sort of like no offense, but I wound up winning purely because you got fired, And I was like, well, but yeah, anyway, the idea of like, yeah, I'm gonna just like build a literal castle, this is like if you told me to go low key, I would still have gone harder than anybody there, because putting an effort

looked like that to me. So dialing it back from there would still be considerably bigger than what everybody else had decided to do. And that's not to say that there were some entries that were really good, but they just you know what I'm saying. So anyway, this whole thing with her, I I'm so delighted. And Akanda is playing Nicki Minaj, which is like perfect, perfect and mango. She has taught him a bunch of tricks, you guys. She's also managed to amplify his roar so that it's

like more impressive. She says earthquake, and he jumps and lands on the stage and piratetechnics go off, and there's a whole like the ladies love him. Sorry, ladies, He's taken and the other girl Dinos come out with like paper hearts that they're holding with his name, like, I am so sorry, but this is the best thing that's ever happened in this series so far. And I haven't even gotten her performance yet, so we'll see about that.

But that's part of it, like a plan, and this is just purely what it is, and that is part of what I love about it, is that this is just for the sake of winning the pet contest. This is like, ultimately, there's no other ulterior emotives here. She just absolutely slayed for the sake of it, because that's what she does, because she is, you know, I fucking get it, girly, and I respect it and I salute it.

Good for you. Oh my god. The Velociraptor actually moon walks at the end, and then they both have their heads bopping to the music in time like just no notes, perfect, absolutely perfect. Anyway, the blob guy was shaking, and I'm really sure that's a good thing. That was low Kei, Carl. They told me I couldn't do my magic missile entrance. We had planned. This was nothing compared to my Kesha act. Miss Beatrice and I performed in Cleveland, which I am

desperately curious about that You sat an occasion. Let judges look for your butthole. Your cat shows not at the bar afterward. Honestly, Carl, it's like you know nothing about my life, which probably probably true. So I'm sorry. How did you train Mango to moon walk? Oh? It was nothing. Wait to see our real dance number later. I can't wait.

So this is when he checks in with Bomo and the Sledge, and at first things seem to be doing all right, but it's not long until Sledge is informing him about the mantises and how there are a lot of them, and Carl is just like, oh, what the fuck? And he asks Samantha how many babies can she actually have? And I love Samantha's response, She'll have as many babies as she wants. Her baby Sprinkler will shoot them out until the very end of time if she wants, which

is uh. It's evocative and informative, and els like those are her children and she's burthing them here. Remember that dude who blew up when Dewata was born. I was talking to that Hunter guy, and you know Vro's people tricked his brother into going into that temple and being used as the birthing vessel for Dawata. They plan murdered another hunter just to cure Vrov of venereal disease. Rob messaged him and said he'd be safe if he went in there, and they somehow tricked him into submitting to

the ritual. The brother is pissed about it. And now the Circey bug ladies is having an actual flesh and blood babies and just sending them out into the world. What's gonna happen when the floor collapses? Are they just going to go away? They're her kids. So yeah, it didn't occur to me that they're like actual babies because the god is part of the game, so I thought it was going to be kind of not really real,

but it seems like it is. And the fact that there is somebody that Vross screwed over, I think probably Carl could potentially take advantage of but I don't know how. Maybe it's saying he could take advantage of it as like over speaking a little bit, And really what I mean is that perhaps the brother who's angry, who I'm assuming isn't in the game, Maybe that brother is able to give Carl some kind of help. I don't know.

So let's see, I'm going to chapter seventy one. I am so over time, and I am like two chapters behind here, guys, Ugh, I'm sorry. I kind of talked about a lot of this though already, where we're dealing with Lucia Mahr and the revelation that something weird is going on, and Floren talks to Carl. I don't understand it all. There are multiple people in there, real people, mostly kids. The girl I was talking looking to is

named Jill. She's ten years old and she's Dutch. I thought she was trying to pull something, but she's telling the truth. She knew the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. That is no street kid from Ecuador running an op something to do with a dog and a guy named Alexandro. But there are kids in there in her head, multiple kids. We have to get that dog, not her. The dog. It can still control her from afar, but only in

short bursts. Once we get it, it's gone. And Carl says to Zev, you guys said there were no children crawlers, And like I was asking this in the discord, I think it's Droll who said something like, keep in mind that Luciamar is only thirteen. And I said, wait then, what Constant is a kid to them? And I don't remember what the response was, but it was sort of inconclusive. So I'm surprised that this question hasn't been asked earlier, because to me, thirteen counts as a kid. But like

you know, and Zev says, it's complicated, Carl. You don't have to be involved in everything. We're not going to discuss it, especially not now. Heads up, and this is when Ferdinand appears on Carl's shoulder. So chapter seventy two begins with the analysis of the map from Louis, and there's the revelation about the tunnels that Ferdinand uses, which evidently nobody is aware of or because they look down on him so much, they just don't pay attention to

anything he does. And Ferdinand seems unaware that he's looked down on like this. And the way that they decide to play it is Donut has to really lay it on, thick with him and flatter him him and use her charisma to manipulate him. And there is some worry from Carl that whether or this is even going to work. But her charisma is at something insane like one sixty or one eighty, and it's essentially he is putty in her hands. There's just of course it's working. Let's see,

he's level one hundred. Province Boss listed as a minion. Stats are one hundred down the line except dexterity, which is one twenty five in charisma, which is seventy five, which I think is very funny that his charisma, after everything being at least one hundred, his charisma is lower because everybody is just sort of like, no, I don't like him, and Donut really like. At first, it's like I don't think I can do this, and Carl says, yeah, you can, and if you don't, he's going to try

and kill Mango, So you've got to do it. At least for manco Oh Donuts charisma of two seventy six. I was so low. I was underscoring her by one hundred almost. I am so sorry, Donut, please forgive me. Plus the bonus from the seas the Day toothpaste was well over three hundred. Bonkers fucking insane. So as this is all happening, they're meant to be like distracting Ferdinand

so that Samantha can use his tunnel. But unfortunately, he decides that he is going to go back to his room and I don't even remember what it is, but he's like gonna use the tunnels. And they are so worried that Samantha's gonna get caught in there, and he doesn't even notice her. He just rolls right by her. And let's see, Uh, I tricked him good. I'm in the tunnel. Now where do I go? Carl? Where do you go? You were supposed to memorize the map, Samantha?

Did you see that thing? How was I supposed to memorize that? You memorized the map? And IMMANI turned and gave me an I fucking told you. Look, this is when Louis is like this. We're trying to like deal with the Twister, their changelings and the mantises fighting in the air and the change things are turning into Mantus's and it is getting very confusing. And let's say, sorry, I am okay. This is sledge Bonnie is okay, Bear Cubs okay, Prudence is okay. I took a deep breath.

We'd never agreed to save Prudence in the bear cubs. They were supposed to stay in the safe room until the collapse, where they'd simply disappear. Taking care of Bonnie the Gnome was difficult enough, and like, I get it, but I also, you know, telling an MPC to like ignore other NPCs tricky tough. I would feel weird about it. I get it. The airship has been taken. It's covered with bugs and is just spinning in the air. On roof of castle, very flat, no entrance, changing change links

flying to the tower. Elves are shooting, Changelings are flying fighting mantis is and turning into mantis is, confusing change link dead on the roof. Two turrets still have shooting elves running. I have controller. I can crash twister into other turrets and Louis is like, don't crash the twister, and Carl is like, I'm really sorry, Bud, but we have to do this. And this is when he looks up and he sees some people. They're trying to get Lucia to break the seal. I'm trying to find the bit.

Lucia was amicably chatting with her fellow as if they were all best friends, waving her to kill a bottle about offering drinks to everyone. I watched just several hunters, including Vrazaba and multiple Charconians, moved in, creating an additional semicircle around the group. At the prize counter, Chaco backed himself up all the way against the wall like a bartender. In one of my Louis Lamar books, Ready for the Inevitable Shootout and Donut says. They are saying, I get

to go on last. Isn't that great? I'm the headliner. In the meantime the singer song, Have Britney play her guitar, have Tina dance. Don't do the velocirapper velociraptor hop. It's too dangerous. I'm very curious what that is and why how am I going to bring the razzle dazzle without the grand finale. We survive, that's the finale. Donut sh Carl,

You lack vision, That's all I'm saying. And let's see, I'm trying to make sure I cover everything before I wrap, because, like you know, obviously I am really short on time. Here he ran right past and didn't even see me. This is Samantha about Ferdinand because he comes rushing back to make sure he sees donuts act use the potion ball. That's why we gave it to you. Drop it right into the middle of the room. They'll be asleep for thirty minutes, Samantha, I didn't bring it. I gave it

to Clayton. It made me clink when I rolled. I wouldn't be able to sneak away. And quite frankly, it was very rude for you to shove that up there in the first place. And he's like, you've got to go get it, and she says, not watch this, and then Yelle's not fair. You told me I could do this. The guards are already dead, Ferdinand, A voice snap the Queen. She just appeared right in the middle of the room

with no warning warning. This room is now sealed. Nobody will be allowed to enter or leave until the conclusion of the party. You are protected from outside influence or spells.

I am very curious whether this seal applies to the tunnel, like if people aren't aware it's there, is there is does the magic is it sort of comprehensive regardless of whether you direct it towards certain areas, or does the tunnel need to be targeted with magic, because otherwise it's not you know what I'm saying like, I'll be curious to see how that all works, but well I have to see all right, kids, I have got to wrap

them so overtime both my recordings today. Apologies, appreciate you all so much, Thank you for hanging out with me, and thank you Jackie again for commissioning this one. Until next time to the loom. Motherfuckers that was an unspoiled network