Transcript - Episode 16: The Right Stuff (Part 3)
Audio for The Right Stuff Part 3
The Right Stuff Part 3
Wed, Nov 26, 2025
“Push the Roll with Ross Bryant” is produced for the ear and includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
Silas (Ross) 00:00
No doubt a doctor at a hospital would provide a great deal of professional comfort, but we have a doctor here. I think right now, time is of the essence. I'm worried if she goes jostling down the road much longer, she may die. I am alone here. If you wish to be of help, Mr...
Bobby King (Nic) 00:17
Uh, King.
Silas (Ross) 00:18
Mr. King. Can you wake up Dr Pritchard for me? He's just across the village green there. Can you bring him here for me?
Matt Young 00:24
I run up and I punch this guy right in the face. [laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 00:29
Just get into it.
Ross Bryant 00:31
[SFX: punch; group awe] You are ambushing, and like, yeah, go ahead and roll Fighting/Brawl.
Matt Young 00:42
Absolutely. That's a 29 under 45.
Ross Bryant 00:45
Great. Do your damage. It should have that on your sheet there. It's like, usually a dice plus your Damage Bonus, which will be there as well on the far right.
cuppycup 00:56
The dilettante probably doesn't have a damage bonus.
Matt Young 00:58
So I don't have a damage bonus. It's just one, d3, okay. One.
Ross Bryant 01:02
Okay. But you've sucker punched him.
Matt Young 01:05
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 01:06
And he's even older than Chris, if you can believe it. [laughter]
Paula Deming 01:11
I can't.
Bobby King (Nic) 01:12
You're gonna kill him. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 01:16
His glasses go flying off. He goes like tumbling backwards against a pew [SFX: wood impact], and he just kind of looks up at you with like shock and disbelief on his face. Why don't we get a secondary title right now from your list?
cuppycup 01:31
Oh.
Paula Deming 01:33
Yeah.
cuppycup 01:33
Does someone else want to roll it? Nic or Paula? d100.
Nic Rosenberg 01:37
Go for it, Paula.
Paula Deming 01:39
Okay, it's all on me. A nine.
cuppycup 01:47
(laughs) I'm laughing because it's fun. Alright, Ross, the new title, or the additional title, is from Ian S. and it is "The Ship of Theseus."
Nic Rosenberg 01:59
Thank you, Ian.
Ross Bryant 02:01
I'm bummed that that's being used midway and not to establish its whole new...
cuppycup 02:05
I understand that. [laughter] Yeah, I saw that too. That's a great title, though.
Ross Bryant 02:09
Keep these folkloric titles coming, folks. We love to see it. But "The Ship of Theseus" not only evocative of Ancient Greece, but of course, it's a paradox, right? It's the ship that gets one part replaced, then another part replaced and another part replaced, until all the parts have been replaced, at which point is it still the Ship of Theseus?
Nic Rosenberg 02:30
Like Menudo. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 02:32
Yeah, exactly. Exactly like Menudo. Is Menudo still Menudo?
Paula Deming 02:37
If none of the original Menudo members are in Menudo, is it still Menudo.
Ross Bryant 02:41
Exactly. If Chris ages out and is replaced, and then one by one, The Other Side is fully replaced, is The Other Side still The Other Side? Perhaps these are the sort of philosophical quandaries that keep you up at night. [laughter]
Billy Baker (Paula) 02:55
If I take away all the intelligent parts of myself and play up just being hot and dumb until I believe that I'm only hot and dumb. Am I still Billy Baker, or am I just B.B.?
Ross Bryant 03:06
[MUSIC: melancholic guitar theme] The cosmos is a cyclopean infinity of chaos, infinite branching paths stretching off to vistas in the distance that will drive the mind mad. Shall we shrink in the face of all this? Or will we climb aboard the chaos and ride it to the end, letting chance guide the way? This is Push the Roll. We're rolling dice against your Patreon suggestions to create improvised Call of Cthulhu adventures in real time with themes of eldritch horror, the weird, the transhuman, the transmundane, the cyberpunk, the splatterpunk, the anything punk. We don't know until we roll. Anytime, anyplace, anything can happen when you push the roll.
Nate Highland (Matt) 03:58
[MUSIC: ritualistic percussion] Get her back in the van now!
Bobby King (Nic) 04:06
Ok, uh yeah, yeah.
Billy Baker (Paula) 04:08
Nate, dude. Dude, you're showing real paucity of reason right now. That means a scarcity or a lack of. Why'd you do this? She wanted to come here.
Matt Young 04:17
I'm gonna roll Language Own: English to see if I understand paucity. That's a 16 under 65. I did it. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 04:26
You understand what's being said.
cuppycup 04:29
Can Chris try to hold Nate back? Like I don't want him to beat the shit out of this guy.
Ross Bryant 04:39
That's up to Nate, I guess.
cuppycup 04:43
Yeah, just to hold him back. I'm just trying to keep him from punching this guy again.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 04:43
What do you know, Dr. Pritchard? What the fuck's wrong with you? [SFX: clothing grab]
Nate Highland (Matt) 04:43
No, this is... something's wrong here. We got to get out of here. What are you doing? We got to go.
Billy Baker (Paula) 04:43
She wanted to come here.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 04:45
Yeah.
Silas (Ross) 04:46
I understand. I understand that you've had a terrible shock.
Ross Bryant 04:52
He's standing up and kind of rubbing his jaw where you punched him.
Silas (Ross) 04:56
But it sounds as though she asked to come here. And we are equipped to handle this misfortune.
Bobby King (Nic) 05:03
Yeah, Nate. Look, I know band law dictates that we should back each other up, but I feel like...
Nate Highland (Matt) 05:08
The triangle, the A-frame, there's no cross. We have to go.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 05:14
A triangle?
Billy Baker (Paula) 05:16
But triangles are everywhere, dude.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 05:18
There can only be three of us?
Nate Highland (Matt) 05:20
Alright. Look, this isn't time for Sesame Street. [laughter] We need to get the shit out of here.
Billy Baker (Paula) 05:25
I don't know what to do.
cuppycup 05:27
Look, mister, what was Annalise even doing all the way out there in those woods? Out in Scalene. [laughter]
Paula Deming 05:34
Scalene. It took me a second.
Nic Rosenberg 05:37
Triangle jokes.
cuppycup 05:38
No apologies.
Silas (Ross) 05:39
I scarcely know. I can tell you that her mother and her father were worried sick. So you've done us all a great kindness.
Bobby King (Nic) 05:48
I'm gonna go get the doctor.
Silas (Ross) 05:50
Thank you, Mr. King.
Bobby King (Nic) 05:52
And then once things are a little more stable, Nate, maybe then we can, like, maybe then we can kind of extricate ourselves.
Nic Rosenberg 06:00
Kind of like winking over at B.B.
Bobby King (Nic) 06:02
You know?
Billy Baker (Paula) 06:02
Hey, good one, Bobby. That's a great word.
Matt Young 06:06
I roll Language again. [laughter] Okay, 62 under 65 I'm alright.
Ross Bryant 06:12
This is one of those games where splitting the party is good and fun. So we...
Nic Rosenberg 06:12
Great, great.
Matt Young 06:16
I storm off back to the van to pout.
Ross Bryant 06:18
Great. Okay.
Matt Young 06:20
Bobby watches you go.
Bobby King (Nic) 06:21
Damn, that's a good pout. Ooh. Okay, I'm gonna get this doctor.
Billy Baker (Paula) 06:26
Chris and Bobby, why don't you guys go get the doctor? I'll stay here with Annalise since she and I bonded in the van.
Bobby King (Nic) 06:32
Sounds good. Alright, Chris.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 06:34
Yeah, I'll stop at the van first, though. Check on Nate. Make sure he's cool. He seemed pretty fired up.
Bobby King (Nic) 06:41
That's so solid of you, yeah. I can go get a doctor.
Billy Baker (Paula) 06:45
Hey, I know Nate already walked off, but three of the four band members are here, so hands in.
cuppycup 06:51
Are we making a triangle?
Billy Baker (Paula) 06:53
Don't make a triangle. No, just put them all in.
Bobby King (Nic) 06:56
Yeah. Yeah, man.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 06:57
"Other Side" on three?
Billy Baker (Paula) 06:59
Okay. "Other Side" on 3. One, two, three. [group with Bobby late] "Other Side!"
Bobby King (Nic) 07:04
Damn it.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 07:04
Oh, wait, "The Other Side." Derek's corrected me on this so many times. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 07:08
Wonderful. Some people are staying in the church with Annalise and Silas. Nate stormed off back to the van with an exquisite pout. And Bobby is going across the village green to get Dr. Pritchard.
Paula Deming 07:21
Chris, were you going to the van to talk to Nate?
cuppycup 07:24
Yeah, I'll check on Nate first, and then grab the doc if Bobby needs help.
Ross Bryant 07:28
Great. Nate, yeah, you were able to pout your way out of the church, walk right back up to the van. [SFX: night time insects] Derek is already back in the front seat. He's like,
Derek (Ross) 07:44
Are we going? What's going on?
Nate Highland (Matt) 07:44
Hey, Derek.
Derek (Ross) 07:44
Yeah?
Nate Highland (Matt) 07:44
I need you to get out of the driver's seat. I'm gonna drive for a while. I'm waiting on everyone else.
Derek (Ross) 07:46
Ah, okay. I hope you're rested up enough.
Nate Highland (Matt) 07:51
Oh, I'm good.
Derek (Ross) 07:51
I understand. The road is hard. The road is always hard. It's especially hard, you know, when we're slumming it in this thing. But think about next year when we're at the Teen Choice Awards, when we got a massive van.
Nate Highland (Matt) 08:04
Yeah.
Derek (Ross) 08:05
When we're touring international. Look at me. Look at me!
Nate Highland (Matt) 08:08
I'm looking.
Derek (Ross) 08:09
Do you know how much they're gonna love us in the UK? Do you know how much the numbers are already gonna be popping in Japan and Korea? Oh, it's gonna be amazing. Okay?
Nate Highland (Matt) 08:20
I know. I just got confused tonight. It's okay. I'm okay.
Derek (Ross) 08:24
Alternative Rock is a flash in the pan, and we are coming back, baby!
Nate Highland (Matt) 08:29
I was reading the "Shiny Happy People" article. It's crap. [laughter]
Derek (Ross) 08:34
Right now all eyes are on Seattle, but pretty soon they're all gonna be swiveling back to The Other Side, baby.
Paula Deming 08:40
Yeah!
Derek (Ross) 08:41
You just got to have faith. You're still the awesome kid I saw up there cutting a rug in Orlando. [laughter]
Nate Highland (Matt) 08:50
Oh, man, don't remind me about my Mouseketeer stint.
Derek (Ross) 08:53
So I'm sitting in the driver's seat. The car is running. I'm like, ready to gun it if I need to.
cuppycup 09:00
Oh, I think Chris is gonna motion for Nate to roll down the window, then on the driver's side, instead of getting into the van.
Ross Bryant 09:06
Okay, yeah. At this point, Derek has slid over and is now in the passenger seat. [SFX: van running]
Chris Holloway (Cup) 09:12
Nate, are you trying to blow this up? 30 minutes ago, you wanted out, and now you're swinging on a preacher?
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:17
No, no, no. Hey, Derek, you didn't hear that. [laughter]
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:20
Chris.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 09:22
I'm not mad. I'm just, I'm really concerned. You know I've always thought of myself as your older brother.
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:29
Chris, I think something very weird is going on here, and I am very concerned that we should not have brought her here. I'm gonna cool off. You go do whatever you think is best. Okay?
Chris Holloway (Cup) 09:43
If you're so worried about her, why are you here? You just left the girl in there.
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:47
Because I'm outnumbered. I'm outvoted. What am I gonna do? That's the band rules. You get outvoted, you back off.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 09:53
That's a good point. No, fair.
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:54
But I'm gonna put this to you.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 09:56
Yeah.
Nate Highland (Matt) 09:57
Do you want to go to Korea? Do you want to go to the UK? Derek, back me up here.
Derek (Ross) 10:03
Yeah, come on.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:04
Yeah, I'm in. I'm all in on "Mating Season." You know that, Nate.
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:05
Okay.
Derek (Ross) 10:05
Are we 100% on that name? I got to run it by the label. [laughter]
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:12
It's for a couple albums from now. Look, just think smart.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:16
Yeah.
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:16
Be very skeptical. Okay, man?
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:20
You know, maybe I have it backwards. Maybe you're the older brother. I just really appreciate your advice, man.
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:28
Well, I appreciate you too. You do a lot to take care of us.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:31
Yeah. I mean...
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:31
Yeah.
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:31
And you filed all our taxes last year. That was... [laughter]
Nate Highland (Matt) 10:32
Chris, that was slamming.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:37
I love all of you, and now I'm learning to love myself. And I think that the next album is just going to be awesome.
Derek (Ross) 10:44
Yeah, it was super solid but please don't say that you're a registered CPA in our Teen Beat interviews.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 10:51
Look, it was a dark time, Derek. Nate, don't go anywhere, alright? I'll round up everybody else.
cuppycup 10:55
Do I see like Bobby going to get the doctor?
Ross Bryant 10:58
Bobby is already halfway across the village green. Make a Listen roll for me, Chris.
cuppycup 11:01
Okay. Scared. Oh, regular success. If it matters, I'll spend three points to make it a hard success.
Ross Bryant 11:17
Why would I tell you that? [laughter]
cuppycup 11:17
I'll spend it even if it doesn't matter, Ross! [laughter]
Paula Deming 11:17
The Keeper's getting serious now.
cuppycup 11:18
I've spent it no matter what.
Ross Bryant 11:20
Then you hear two things. The first thing you hear is that there's someone else moving around the back of the church. You can hear footsteps. [SFX: footsteps in brush] The second thing you hear is... it sounds like water being poured out of a pitcher onto the ground, just like gently. A thin stream pooling. [SFX: dripping liquid]
cuppycup 11:38
And these are in different directions?
Ross Bryant 11:41
Yeah, one is behind this little A-frame building. The other is like, right by your feet.
cuppycup 11:47
Oh! It's not water, is it? Can I look under the van?
Ross Bryant 11:51
Oh, yeah, because when you look down under the van, it's not water. It looks as though gasoline is pouring out of the cut that's been made in the gas line. [group yells "No!"]
Chris Holloway (Cup) 12:01
Nate, get out here now!
Ross Bryant 12:02
Bobby. [laughter] Bobby, you're almost across the village green.
Nic Rosenberg 12:07
Bobby's walking along with a package of his emotional support Twizzlers. One just kind of hanging out of his mouth. [SFX: wrapper rustling]
Bobby King (Nic) 12:15
It's gonna be fine. There's a doctor. Alright. You got this, Bobby.
Ross Bryant 12:18
Just kind of three brick steps leading up to this low, long building. Shingles on the roof. Wooden door. Like very short on ornamentation. You can hear the boughs of the trees whispering back behind it. It looks as though people are probably asleep at this hour.
Nic Rosenberg 12:37
Yeah, just the most kind of like ineffectual light knock at first. [SFX: light knocking]
Bobby King (Nic) 12:44
Hello?
Nic Rosenberg 12:45
And then a little bit stronger after that, and we'll just kind of like keep slightly increasing the volume of the knocks until somebody answers. [SFX: gradually louder knocks]
Ross Bryant 13:03
A light comes on inside. [MUSIC: gentle piano] The door opens up [SFX: creaking door] and an older gentleman and a woman behind him in the sort of like sitting room of this old house, look out at you. He's kind of blinking into the light and putting on glasses of his own. He's got a little closely cropped mustache and beard. His hair is white.
Bobby King (Nic) 13:19
Excuse me, sir. I know it's late. Hey, girl. [laughter] Reverend Silas told me to come get you. There's someone who needs some medical attention in the church.
Dr. Pritchard (Ross) 13:29
Oh, all right, I'll be right there.
Ross Bryant 13:33
And he ducks back into the house. The woman is standing there. It looks as though she's got a pile of hair on her head, almost a pseudo beehive, and a long, kind of modest frock that she may have been sleeping in. The floor is carpeted. There are a lot of photographs on the wall and a taxidermied deer head.
Nic Rosenberg 13:53
Any obvious triangles in here? Any out of place triangles? [laughter]
Ross Bryant 13:59
No obvious triangles. One odd thing that you may notice, it doesn't take a Spot Hidden or anything, is that, like, there are little tight rings, like, almost like little flower crowns around each of the antlers of the deer that's above the fireplace.
Nic Rosenberg 14:16
Bobby, almost like, just not even fully registering that he's doing it is just gonna make that triangle sign, looking at these antlers, remembering the vision from the woods.
Ross Bryant 14:27
You do that?
Paula Deming 14:29
Uh oh.
Nic Rosenberg 14:30
I do that.
Ross Bryant 14:31
Great. The woman is standing right there. The woman sees you do that, and beckons you inside. Is like,
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 14:38
He'll be out directly. Do you want a glass of water or anything? I don't know where you've come from.
Bobby King (Nic) 14:46
Yeah, we were just at the K-mart in Scalene, I guess is the name of the town that we're going with. [laughter]
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 14:52
Oh, Scalene. Lord, I haven't been there in... Lord, it's been years.
Bobby King (Nic) 14:54
[MUSIC: ominous drone] Yeah, I'll take some water or purple stuff, or Sunny D, or whatever you got. [laughter]
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 15:04
I don't know about Sunny D, but I might have some purple stuff. [laughter]
Bobby King (Nic) 15:07
Oh, great. Yeah, would you like a Twizzler?
Nic Rosenberg 15:10
Just kind of like freaked out, but just going through the motions of being a polite young man.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 15:16
Oh, you're very kind, but thank you, no.
Ross Bryant 15:18
You get the sense that processed food is not her thing.
Nic Rosenberg 15:21
Okay, fair enough.
Ross Bryant 15:22
She kind of waddles off into a kitchen area, it looks like. [SFX: electricity buzzing] A little light comes on and you can hear her like shuffling around. This is just her voice coming out of the kitchen.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 15:35
Our little town must seem very remote to you.
Bobby King (Nic) 15:39
I mean, I actually grew up in upstate New York, in the middle of a commune, so that was pretty remote as well. I'm used to the woods.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 15:47
Oh, that must have been beautiful.
Bobby King (Nic) 15:49
Yeah.
Nic Rosenberg 15:49
Can I be looking around at the pictures and see if there's anything like weird or disturbing?
Ross Bryant 15:57
Yeah.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 16:00
Well then, I suppose we don't... We may not seem as backwards to you as I may have thought.
Bobby King (Nic) 16:06
Oh no, ma'am. Those who live close to the land and who respect its bounty and its beauty. I will always have a place in my heart for that life, yes.
Ross Bryant 16:16
Ting Ting Ting Ting Ting Ting. [SFX: spoon in glass] You're hearing a tablespoon in a glass, stirring. She comes out with a glass of purple stuff and sets it on a wooden table. [SFX: glass set down] She's just smiling at you.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 16:28
He'll be out shortly. Please help yourself.
Bobby King (Nic) 16:31
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Nic Rosenberg 16:34
I'm gonna take a sip of this purple stuff.
cuppycup 16:38
Amazing.
Ross Bryant 16:38
Great. Love that for you. [laughter]
Paula Deming 16:40
And it's not Kool-Aid, to be fair. It's off brand Kool-Aid.
Ross Bryant 16:45
Oh yeah. It's very off brand.
Paula Deming 16:46
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 16:47
Yeah, tastes a little strange, Bobby.
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 16:52
That's good to know. Communal living has a great many benefits. We till the earth together, and we share things in common. Perhaps we're rather like your parents were.
Bobby King (Nic) 17:05
Yeah, this is an interesting flavor. What's in this?
Mrs. Pritchard (Ross) 17:09
Oh, um, well, we are not.. all pleasures are denied to us, of course. We are in the world, but not of the world. So it's sugar, honey, herbs.
Bobby King (Nic) 17:24
I love herbs. [laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 17:27
Bobby might have this impending, like... Finally, his sense of self-preservation is kicking in, and he's starting to,
Bobby King (Nic) 17:32
You know, I should probably get back to my friends.
Ross Bryant 17:35
Yeah, it's hard to walk.
Bobby King (Nic) 17:37
Whoa.
Ross Bryant 17:38
A sort of like, sleepy drunkenness is kind of coming over you as the doctor comes back into the room.
Dr. Pritchard (Ross) 17:44
Oh, good, good.
Ross Bryant 17:47
He's looking at you.
Dr. Pritchard (Ross) 17:48
Well, we'll begin shortly, won't we? Thank you, Tessa. My wife is an angel.
Ross Bryant 17:56
And probably the last thing you see before your vision goes dark is that one of those photos on the wall is of a family, and it looks like these two looking at a camera, dressed very plainly. And of course, you recognize the young girl in the photo with them as the one who signed at you from the parking lot of the K-mart.
Nic Rosenberg 18:13
Cool.
Paula Deming 18:14
Of course you do. You recognize that.
Nic Rosenberg 18:17
He's like fading. He's like,
Bobby King (Nic) 18:19
She has such pretty eyes.
Ross Bryant 18:22
B.B., what are you up to?
Paula Deming 18:23
Well, I am in the church with, I guess, Silas and Annalise.
Silas (Ross) 18:31
Her pulse is strong. You've done us a great kindness, a great kindness, indeed.
Billy Baker (Paula) 18:36
Thank you. I'm really sorry about Nate. He just, you know, he's kind of, like, our troubled, you know, member of the group, and it's really great for, like, the image. And we're not really all the things, how we project ourselves, you know, like, I'm just, like, hot, and that's it. But there's a lot more to me than that, and there's a lot more to Nate, but sometimes we buy into, you know, the persona we've been given just for our brand. So you'll have to forgive him. I think he just got, you know, kind of caught up in the moment.
Silas (Ross) 19:09
That is the nature of the world, isn't it?
Billy Baker (Paula) 19:13
Yeah.
Silas (Ross) 19:13
Provide you with a persona, with a role.
Billy Baker (Paula) 19:17
Yes, exactly.
Silas (Ross) 19:18
That you feel compelled to play.
Billy Baker (Paula) 19:20
Totally, man, you get it.
Silas (Ross) 19:22
But there is an authentic soul. It's hard for me to... hard for me to turn off, you understand? There is an authentic soul underneath all of that, trying to be free.
Billy Baker (Paula) 19:34
You know, I grew up... I grew up going to church. I always loved singing the hymns. It's how I started singing, you know, do you have any, uh, do you have any hymnals?
Paula Deming 19:43
I'll look at any of these pews. Are there, like, hymnals?
Billy Baker (Paula) 19:45
Maybe we could sing something. It'll like, calm the situation. Maybe it'll help Annalise feel better, you know? And not just like a (singing) "girl I got, you girl." You know, but like an actual song that might mean something to her, because I don't think she's a fan.
Silas (Ross) 20:00
Hmm, you do have a beautiful singing voice, though.
Billy Baker (Paula) 20:04
Wow. Thank you.
Silas (Ross) 20:06
You'd fit right in. Our community, though, we don't have many of the tunes written down, we do favor singing.
Billy Baker (Paula) 20:15
Oh, well, that's great. Well, we could sing for you. You know, we've got songs, and some of them are, you know, like church, like family appropriate. You know, we're pretty, you know, marketable in that way. We aren't going to come out with "Mating Season" until our third album. So we're pretty tame right now, maybe as a way to, like, make up for the fact that Nate punched you, we could do a little, like, concert or something, um, I'm just talking now, I guess.
Silas (Ross) 20:41
I wish you would.
Ross Bryant 20:42
And he is like, I think perhaps through some of this, you maybe moved... if you're okay, leaving Annalise kind of resting.
Paula Deming 20:52
If she looks okay. If she looks like she's okay, then yeah.
Ross Bryant 20:57
He may have led you and had this conversation as you're moving back into that common area. I don't know if you've ever been in like a church parish hall or whatever, but like a big kind of industrial kitchen sort of situation. It's not like sparkling clean, like everything in here is very like 1970s looking.
Paula Deming 21:13
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 21:14
And he opens up a cabinet, and there's a bunch of mismatched glasses, like mason jars and things. [SFX: kitchen rummaging] He sets out two. He kind of reaches into a refrigerator. There's a big plastic pitcher. He's pouring out some purple stuff.
Billy Baker (Paula) 21:34
Oh man, Bobby loves purple stuff. I myself am more partial to iced tea or Sunny D, so... [laughter]
Silas (Ross) 21:41
Well, I understand. Night's a little warm. We're not on any sort of city water out here. It's our own well. Crystal water like you've never had.
Billy Baker (Paula) 21:53
Oh, really, that's cool, man. Cool.
Paula Deming 21:58
Starting to get nervous and just kind of like starting to do, you know how like, dancers kind of mark their choreography? You know, like, they just kind of go through the motions, just start doing just like slight, like, step snap choreography, just because it's like,
Billy Baker (Paula) 22:15
Don't know what to do with my body. And this, I feel comfortable. (singing) "Girl, I got you, girl." My friends are gonna get back here any minute now.
Silas (Ross) 22:29
Great.
Ross Bryant 22:30
Are you drinking?
Billy Baker (Paula) 22:31
I don't. I'm just 19 man, so I don't drink. Are you? Are you drinking the purple stuff?
Ross Bryant 22:39
He has not.
Billy Baker (Paula) 22:40
Maybe Annalise would like some. We could bring some back to her.
Paula Deming 22:44
There's some reason B.B. is just like, I just had a sudden, really weird feeling. And, yeah.
Silas (Ross) 22:50
Alright, yeah, perhaps we can.
Ross Bryant 22:53
And you turn around to go, I guess?
Billy Baker (Paula) 22:55
Yeah, great. I'll take this glass to Annalise.
Paula Deming 22:59
And I'll pick up one of the glasses.
Ross Bryant 23:01
Something crashes down on the back of your head. [SFX: metal impact]
Paula Deming 23:08
(whimpering) Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
Nic Rosenberg 23:10
Oh, no.
Ross Bryant 23:11
Sorry. Sorry, not really. [laughter]
Paula Deming 23:15
Is that Silas?
Silas (Ross) 23:17
I am sorry, though, I am sorry.
Billy Baker (Paula) 23:21
(singing weakly) "Girl, I had you. Girl. Why'd you do that?
Paula Deming 23:29
Am I like... Am I knocked out by it? Or am I just..
Ross Bryant 23:32
Well, that all depends. How much HP do you have?
Paula Deming 23:36
Oh, gosh. Nine points.
Ross Bryant 23:38
Nine? So I think you have been dealt five points of damage.
cuppycup 23:46
Wow.
Ross Bryant 23:47
By a frying pan knocking into the back of your head. That is over half your hit points. So roll Constitution to see if you have stayed awake.
Bobby King (Nic) 23:55
Oh, B.B.!
Nic Rosenberg 23:56
Did he hit her in the face, or hit him in the face?
Ross Bryant 24:01
In the back of the head.
Nic Rosenberg 24:02
Oh, thank goodness.
Paula Deming 24:04
I do. I do. 16 under 50. So I stay awake, but I'm, like, knocked down on the ground. I'm like,
Billy Baker (Paula) 24:11
Oh, dude, what happened? What happened? Oh!
Ross Bryant 24:15
You're still conscious. And he has said exactly what I said.
Silas (Ross) 24:20
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Ross Bryant 24:21
What's happening here? Nate was right.
Silas (Ross) 24:24
I'm sorry. It's alright, though. It's alright.
Ross Bryant 24:25
[SFX: ominous synth] You can hear him setting a frying pan like (plink) back on the stove next to that fridge.
Paula Deming 24:30
I'm starting to try and, like, pull myself along the floor trying to get out of this industrial kitchen.
Billy Baker (Paula) 24:37
Nate! Nate, you were right! Bobby, Chris, Derek!
Silas (Ross) 24:42
It's alright. No, don't. Don't. Don't scream. Don't Strain your voice. Don't Strain your voice. (B.B. screaming)
Ross Bryant 24:47
As he's now beginning to pour purple stuff into your throat if he can. (B.B. screaming and gurgling) Feel free to, I mean, I'm not gonna just, do you want to fight back?
Paula Deming 24:59
Yeah. Think I will fight back, you know? Because I'm trying to be a hero.
Ross Bryant 25:05
Be a hero. Let's see.
Paula Deming 25:06
Okay, I'm not very strong, and I'm not actually very big, so... so I rolled a regular success, 35 under 40.
Ross Bryant 25:16
He rolled a natural 100.
cuppycup 25:19
Oh!
Paula Deming 25:20
Take that country boy.
cuppycup 25:22
Yes.
Ross Bryant 25:23
Yeah. I think you come out of your shock. And yeah, what would you like to happen here?
Paula Deming 25:28
Okay, I will, if he misses, if I can... woozy, worst headache of my life. Think I'm gonna try and get up and start to run like I'm in a nightmare, back up to the main room, because I'm like,
Billy Baker (Paula) 25:42
I've got to get Annalise. We got to get out of here. I got to get to the van, just like Nate said.
Paula Deming 25:50
So I'm going to try and get up and run back over to Annalise to try and grab her.
Ross Bryant 25:52
Tell me what you did to him, actually, with that great roll.
Paula Deming 25:54
I think I just disengaged and ran away, honestly. He missed and I used that as my opportunity, because I got really hurt. I don't think I have it in me to focus on hurting him. I think it's just I have to get up. I have to get Annalise. I have to save the girl. We got to get out of here, just like Nate was saying. So I think I've just gotten up and run off. [SFX: running footsteps]
Ross Bryant 26:16
Okay, great, you're out there, out in the main room of the church, and yes, you see Annalise there in the pew, kind of, like, regained consciousness a little bit, kind of shifting up in her seat. You're upon her.
Billy Baker (Paula) 26:29
Annalise, girl, we gotta go.
Ross Bryant 26:31
Maybe that's when you hear Chris be, like, swearing about the situation at the van.
Billy Baker (Paula) 26:37
What?
cuppycup 26:38
Yeah, Chris is gonna, like, tear open the back doors of the van and yell,
Chris Holloway (Cup) 26:42
Nate, Derek, somebody cut the fuel line!
cuppycup 26:44
And he's looking for electrical tape, duct tape, whatever he can find. We're a band. We've got that shit.
Billy Baker (Paula) 26:50
Somebody cut the?
Paula Deming 26:51
I hear this. I turn to Annalise, I grab her by the shoulder, say,
Billy Baker (Paula) 26:54
Why did you want us to bring you here, girl?
Ross Bryant 26:57
And she kind of looks at you and she's shaken out of her reverie. [MUSIC: gentle piano]
Annalise (Ross) 27:05
Because you had to come.
Billy Baker (Paula) 27:07
Tell me, why? What? What are you talking about?
Annalise (Ross) 27:11
To be the singers at my wedding.
Billy Baker (Paula) 27:14
What?
Ross Bryant 27:15
She is smiling at you.
Billy Baker (Paula) 27:18
Who are you marrying?
Ross Bryant 27:19
Yes, out by the car, you hear the woods like [SFX: branches break] twigs snapping. You see off behind the A-frame house, a whole tree fall down. [SFX: tree collapses]
Matt Young 27:34
Okay, so... [laughter] I have heard... have I seen the tree and everything go?
Ross Bryant 27:40
Mm-hmm.
Matt Young 27:41
And I just heard Chris say they cut the fuel line. I don't have eyeballs on B.B. or Bobby.
Ross Bryant 27:48
No B.B., no Bobby.
Matt Young 27:49
No B.B., no Bobby. Alright, shit. What do I do now?
cuppycup 27:53
I'm gonna roll San on the tree while you decide, because that's a lot.
Matt Young 27:58
Oh.
cuppycup 27:58
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 27:59
Oh yeah. Absolutely. Roll San on that tree.
cuppycup 28:02
Too busy looking for tape. Yeah, I did pass. [laughter]
Matt Young 28:05
Ooh, I failed.
Paula Deming 28:07
Uh oh.
Ross Bryant 28:08
Okay, great. You are the one who saw the eyes.
Matt Young 28:12
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 28:12
In the woods, and now you are seeing an entire tree getting rent off its roots. I think you more than anyone are aware of the nature of the thing that is coming nearer by the moment. You take three points of Sanity loss.
Matt Young 28:29
Okay. I'm at 44. Not too terrible, but...
Ross Bryant 28:33
Well, we'll keep an eye on if anyone ever loses five at a go.
Matt Young 28:37
Yeah, okay. I hop out of the van and I try to help Chris. [SFX: van engine stops] I shut it off, and I hop out, and I try to help fix the fuel line, even though I don't really know what I'm doing.
Ross Bryant 28:48
Derek stumbles out behind you and is like, kind of just like backing into the village green, like,
Derek (Ross) 28:53
What the hell is? What is going on here?
Ross Bryant 28:56
And just kind of hollering and screaming, like,
Derek (Ross) 29:00
What the fuck? Why did we come here?
Ross Bryant 29:03
As he's just kind of looking around, and he maybe is aware of a couple people also on the verges of the village green, and maybe is seeing Bobby being led this way as well, between two slowly moving elderly people. Back in the church like,
Annalise (Ross) 29:22
I have been chosen.
Billy Baker (Paula) 29:24
What does that mean?
Annalise (Ross) 29:27
You're a part of it now. You saved me. He felt you.
Billy Baker (Paula) 29:33
What? No.
Annalise (Ross) 29:36
He heard your voice.
Billy Baker (Paula) 29:37
No.
Annalise (Ross) 29:38
You sung with him.
Billy Baker (Paula) 29:40
No.
Annalise (Ross) 29:40
He has hunted me in his wild hunt. I have been baptized in the blood, and I shall bear his child, and you shall sing for us all. You cannot leave now.
Paula Deming 29:54
No girl, this is messed up, you see, this is messed up, don't you? We can get you out of here. I guess our van's messed up. I heard Chris saying something about the gas line, but we could go, we could run, we could get away. We don't have to do this.
Annalise (Ross) 30:06
That is returning to the world. But we are in this world. We are not of this world.
Billy Baker (Paula) 30:10
Okay, that's good for you.
Annalise (Ross) 30:11
We shall give birth to the true world.
Billy Baker (Paula) 30:14
What? True world? I don't. Okay, okay, girl, this is a lot for me. And you, okay, fine. You can be of the world, but I am solidly in the world. I'm a member of The Other Side. Okay, I'm famous. I am in the world. Okay? People offer me drugs, girl. [laughter] I haven't said yes to them yet, but I'm probably gonna. So I am in the world. I can't do this. You don't want us. We are not sacred, we're not sanctified. We're gonna go. We're just gonna go.
Annalise (Ross) 30:45
You think you've seen the other side?
Billy Baker (Paula) 30:47
No, I no.
Annalise (Ross) 30:49
He has touched me.
Ross Bryant 30:51
She takes some of the blood out of the wound in her leg.
Annalise (Ross) 30:54
He has touched me.
Ross Bryant 30:56
She's making the sign of the triangle.
Annalise (Ross) 30:59
Let me show you.
Billy Baker (Paula) 31:00
No, I don't want to.
Ross Bryant 31:02
She touches your forehead with the blood, reaching out to you.
Paula Deming 31:08
This is really upsetting. Should I, like, make a Sanity roll to see? Like, this is weird or... I'm trying to move away, like I don't even notice.
Ross Bryant 31:15
Yes, make, make a Sanity roll.
Paula Deming 31:17
Okay, I'm at 42 right now. Oh, I rolled a 96, Ross, on my Sanity roll.
Ross Bryant 31:25
Is that a fumble?
cuppycup 31:26
Yeah, you're under 50, right?
Ross Bryant 31:28
Remind me what rolling a fumble on a Sanity...
cuppycup 31:31
Max San loss.
Nic Rosenberg 31:33
Oh shit. No!
Paula Deming 31:36
It's all coming together, because I'm realizing that the thing that has hunted her... Is it the thing I hit with my car at one point, and it's all connected, and maybe it's actually also, in a way, been hunting us, and I am the reason this is happening, because I hit it with my car.
Ross Bryant 31:53
And she's even saying,
Annalise (Ross) 31:54
He touched me. He touched you, too.
Ross Bryant 31:58
[SFX: ominous orchestral] The finger with the blood on it doesn't go in your forehead, it goes in your mouth. And the second this blood touches your tongue, and I'll tell you the reason that you're about to lose seven points of Sanity. This thing is a eucharist of sorts, and it gives you a vision, a vision of your past. [SFX: car accident] You hit something on that road, and your mind couldn't, kind of take it in. It was a deer. It was a bear. It was a man. It was hairy, it was scaly. It was of the woods. It was in the world, but not of the world. And you remember it looking up at you with a face neither human nor animal, and its eyes gazing into you, and I'm sorry, you saw its enormous phallus, and you saw the garlands of flowers around its antlers, and the beatific face, and the face that seemed to split open in three ways, a jaw that opened not only up and down, but side to side, as it sang to you. You tried to forget it, but now you remember the connection to this thing that is so much older than the car you hit it with.
Paula Deming 33:17
And that's also the moment I think I realize when B.B. started to think,
Billy Baker (Paula) 33:23
I'm not just some dumb, pretty face. I know things. I gotta prove to everyone that I know things. I'm not just what the world wants me to be.
Paula Deming 33:33
But I hadn't... the reason for that had been buried down, but that's when I started reading the dictionary.
Matt Young 33:39
This may be bad form, but I'd like to append this vision with a very short scene where we're all writing down names potential bands and they're like "Boy Crush" and "Love Hug," and then B.B. comes and writes down "The Other Side."
Nic Rosenberg 33:52
Ooh.
cuppycup 33:53
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 33:53
Because I think at that moment when that song hit your ears, you're like visions within visions here. [MUSIC: ethereal drone] It showed you another side, a world of endless and bountiful, fruitful generation, where its footsteps cause a springtime to blossom forth, where every bird that falls dead out of the sky bursts open in an array of flowers, animals rutting on all sides, satyrs capering through the trees, and the horned man is there in all his glory, seeking his bride, seeking to bring his children into the world, to make this fallen world a paradise. And yeah, that's what you saw. So roll, Intelligence for me.
Paula Deming 34:43
Yeah, cuz this is potentially real bad. Okay, alright, come on, fail this one. Roll high. Roll high. Oh, I did 92 over 70, so I failed it.
Ross Bryant 34:55
Okay, you don't go into a Bout of Madness. But you, I think you know, that's what you saw.
cuppycup 34:59
What was your starting San? I don't know if you've lost any before this.
Paula Deming 35:02
I did, and I was gonna say I have lost 10 total points. I started at 45 and now I'm at 35.
cuppycup 35:11
So you're Indefinitely Insane.
Ross Bryant 35:13
Oh, cool.
Paula Deming 35:14
So...
Ross Bryant 35:15
He gone.
Paula Deming 35:16
Yeah. I think I just start to sing.
Ross Bryant 35:21
Yeah, because this thing has showed you a beautiful vision. I think what you realize is that you couldn't face it because you were too attached to this world. But there is a new world waiting to be born.
Billy Baker (Paula) 35:32
(singing) "A Whole New World" but no, that's actually, that's copyrighted. Ah, so.
Paula Deming 35:39
He says, his broken mind goes,
Billy Baker (Paula) 35:42
(singing) "Girl, let me show you the way. The path is open.
Paula Deming 35:50
So B.B. thinks he's singing beautiful lyrics. "Girl, let me show you the way. The path lies before us. Paradise awaits. Walk through this door with me. I can take you there." [MUSIC: guttural chant] He thinks that's what he's singing, but I think what you hear coming out of his mouth is more akin to what was described earlier, which was more of the like harmonizing, with the guttural kind of throat singing added in like, that's what it sounds like, even though, in B.B.'s mind, he's singing a beautiful, beautiful love song about how he can show his girl paradise.
Ross Bryant 36:29
Yes. And as you sing, you see Annalise's bloody face listening with a beatific smile to your song, and you hear the cracks and rumblings from outside. [SFX: branches break] And she takes your hands.
Annalise (Ross) 36:41
He is among us.
Ross Bryant 36:43
[MUSIC: ominous drone] Nate and Chris, you see a thing come out from behind this A-frame building. The arms almost touch the ground. The head is at the same time, wolfen, deer-like, human. It is bearded and shaggy. Its eyes glow in the dim light, and of course, there are enormous antlers sprouting from its head, a shaggy, shaggy coat of hair. The musk of it hits you, hits your nose. It is everything earthy and dank, and it is the smell of every manure from which blossoms spring and giant feet, neither hoof nor claw, crunch down out of the forest as it lopes slowly into view. And just to look upon it, of course, gets Sanity rolls from the both of you.
Matt Young 37:42
Before I roll Sanity, I assume I know the answer this question. I immediately recognize this thing, right? Its eyes.
Ross Bryant 37:50
Yes, absolutely. These are the eyes you saw in the forest.
cuppycup 37:54
Oh, related to that, did I go on a date with this thing at some point, [laughter] maybe in a different form? You know, I went on all those blind dates. Do I recognize like something about it that makes me think?
Ross Bryant 38:07
I tell you what you recognize is suddenly you hear singing all around you as this thing comes out, snuffling. And the two elderly people dragging Bobby along are singing. The dozen or so other people that have emerged from the shadows, one of whom has a knife dripping gasoline, emerge from the shadows, and all of them are singing, and one of them is a face you recognize. It's older, of course, but it's a young woman you had a blind date with.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 38:36
It's Debra.
cuppycup 38:37
I did really well on my San roll, I rolled a 10. I'm so focused on this tape, Ross.
Ross Bryant 38:43
Great.
cuppycup 38:44
Just want some electrical tape.
Matt Young 38:47
I did not do as well.
Ross Bryant 38:49
You failed?
Matt Young 38:50
I rolled an 82 over 44. Can I push? I probably can't push a Sanity roll but can I use Luck?
Ross Bryant 38:57
No.
Matt Young 38:57
Damn.
Ross Bryant 38:58
Sanity rolls are what they are, but that's the fun of them. [laughter]
Matt Young 39:01
Sure.
Paula Deming 39:02
Fun.
Ross Bryant 39:03
They're fun. Uh oh. [laughter] Okay, so you lose six points of Sanity just looking at this thing.
Matt Young 39:10
Okay.
Ross Bryant 39:11
You must roll Intelligence and you want to fail, because a failure means that you do not comprehend what you are seeing. So roll Intelligence and see if you succeed or fail.
Matt Young 39:22
I have a pretty high Intelligence. I'm at a 70, so let's see what I get. Oh, I got a 24.
Paula Deming 39:29
Oh, no, you know exactly what you're looking at, and it is existentially horrific. [laughter]
Matt Young 39:36
Okay, can I push the Intelligence roll or use Luck on that one?
Ross Bryant 39:39
No.
Matt Young 39:40
Damn.
Ross Bryant 39:40
Afraid not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is why we play the game.
cuppycup 39:43
No way out.
Matt Young 39:45
I just got Luck to burn, man. And I'm like, I'm gonna go for it.
Ross Bryant 39:49
So what this means now, Nate, is that you are in what the game calls a Bout of Madness.
Matt Young 39:54
Okay.
Ross Bryant 39:55
So let's think about how this might manifest. The book is like, maybe this gives you a phobia or a terror of something, or a desire to do something. How does your character in particular, how does their Insanity manifest? Beholding this chthonic entity singing at you as it comes out from around its chapel, with the entire community encircling you.
Matt Young 40:19
[SFX: eerie drone] Everything I've done in my life and tried to do in my life suddenly comes into crystal clear focus, and it has all been an entire waste. Nothing matters, the arts, fame, wealth, power, they're all illusions, and I just crumple down to the ground, and I clasp myself around the knees in a fetal position. I can't do anything.
Ross Bryant 40:50
I love that. And if I may, kind of like,
Matt Young 40:52
Please.
Matt Young 40:53
So I start to kind of crumple onto the ground. As I do, I kind of fall back, and I make eye contact with it again. And then I see its beautiful phallus and its beautiful teats. And I do, I go,
Nate Highland (Matt) 40:53
Hey, girl.
Matt Young 40:53
And I just walk up to it, hoping to, like, become attached to it, hug it, something.
Nic Rosenberg 40:53
Yeah, get up in those teats.
Matt Young 40:53
Get up in those teats.
cuppycup 40:53
It's mating season, buddy. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 40:53
Springboard off of this, because I love that. Everything is collapsing for our poor friend, Nate, the preppy styled swinging kid, star of sitcoms. What was it all worth? All these things blow away like dust in the wind. The kiss of Christina Applegate lingers on your lips, but she perhaps will move on. She, too, is of this world. But all things of this world fade away to dross. They are trash in a can. They are the trash you fear, that you are repelled by. But there's something realer, something that is on another level of reality from everything that you have ever known or cared about, and because it is more real, it is perhaps more worthy of your homage, your love and your dedication. And it is standing there before you, and it, of course, has, as I must continue to reiterate, an enormous phallus. [laughter] But also you can see on its furry hide, maternal dugs, like six teats dangle off of its chest. This thing is neither male nor female. It is all and everything, the generative principle made manifest. And perhaps, as you gaze upon it, the one phrase that comes into your mind is, "Hey, girl." [laughter]
41:39
The album. You know what? We should release this album early. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 41:42
Just to clear it up. Derek is screaming.
Nic Rosenberg 42:32
Sure, sure.
Ross Bryant 42:33
As you move towards the thing, Derek is shrieking and attempting to run away. The ring of citizens of a Gundestrup are tightening around him. The creature, the horned man that is there looming over the A-frame building in two quick, preternaturally hasty steps, closes the gap between itself and Derek. It just reaches out with one of its enormous hands and encloses his head and pops it like a grape. [SFX: screaming and gory burst] You just see a gout of blood, just like burst out of the closed fist of this thing as Derek's body crumples to the ground. And you can see all of the people around begin to sing louder. They make the sign of the triangle, and hail what they have just seen, and as they do so, the body of Derek just explodes with flowers. It's as though you're watching one of those, from a science class, where you watch the...
Paula Deming 43:53
Yeah, the time lapse.
Ross Bryant 43:54
The time lapse decomposition of a fox's corpse. That happens to Derek's body. You can see it just like liquefy, and now he's a tangle of beautiful flowers threaded like an arbor or a lattice through his exposed ribs.
Paula Deming 44:14
Can we say, if it's alright, B.B., at this point, I think, has come out of the church with, maybe with Annalise or not? Is that?
Ross Bryant 44:22
Yes, absolutely.
Paula Deming 44:23
And will see this, the flowers exploding out and just still like humming this tune, this tune pouring forth from him. Go over and, I think, pick a flower and hand it to Chris. Walk over.
Billy Baker (Paula) 44:39
Chris.
Chris Holloway (Cup) 44:40
Get away from me. [laughter]
Billy Baker (Paula) 44:41
Join us. This is the music, the other side. We have a purpose, Chris. Take the flower, Chris. Sing the song with us. Dude.
cuppycup 44:52
I need to roll SAN again, right? Because I just saw Derek get his...
Ross Bryant 44:55
Yeah, yeah, for sure. You just saw all that.
cuppycup 44:57
I am rolling like so good on my SAN rolls. I rolled a 17.
Matt Young 45:01
I want to help Billy out too, so I'm gonna take, I'm taking my gloves off.
Paula Deming 45:04
Yes.
Matt Young 45:05
I'm no longer afraid of touching things.
Nic Rosenberg 45:07
Ooh.
cuppycup 45:07
And Bobby's like in the grasp of the doctor and his wife. Is that right?
Ross Bryant 45:12
Yeah, let's actually go into Bobby because you're asleep.
Nic Rosenberg 45:16
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 45:17
You drank the purple stuff.
Ross Bryant 45:19
[SFX: ominous drone] In your dream, Bobby, you are in a clearing in a forest. There is a pool of water with leaves suspended in it. Everything is so impossibly green. It is overcast, with a few beams of sunshine breaking through. Birds sing, flowers tilt towards the sunshine, and stepping out of the forest is the horned man. Because it's a dream, you know, the name swims into your head of his like, Cernunnos, as he just stands there regarding you.
Nic Rosenberg 45:19
Just chillin.
Bobby King (Nic) 45:59
Hey, man, nice glade. [SFX: birds chirp]
Ross Bryant 46:04
The horned man takes his enormous paw. It seems to shift and phase. It is a talon. It is a hand. It is a paw. He touches his shoulder. The flowers around you are tender buds. He touches the center of his head between the antlers. They die. The birds fall from the sky. [SFX: birds hit ground] The placid lake is dry. He touches his other shoulder. They are reborn. [SFX: birds fly and chirp] The triple cycle renews again and again and again, a better world. It extends its hand towards you.
Nic Rosenberg 46:50
Bobby is, I think hearing now also like strains of music kind of coming in. Maybe this is the singing from the townsfolk kind of seeping into his unconscious.
Ross Bryant 47:01
Absolutely.
Nic Rosenberg 47:02
And then he kind of hears like, you know, like a synthetic drum line kind of come in, and he's like, getting, [Ross chanting] Yeah, and so starts moving towards this creature, much like Billy did before, kind of just like dance-moving towards this creature.
Bobby King (Nic) 47:18
Yeah, I'm here. We can write a song about this. I see.
Nic Rosenberg 47:24
Yeah, and will try to take the hand of this guy.
Ross Bryant 47:27
Yes, you take its hand and you wake up. Roll Sanity.
Nic Rosenberg 47:31
Yeah, for sure. How can I... I mean, I almost feel like, can you choose to fail? I did pass.
Ross Bryant 47:38
I mean, I find I always want to fail, [laughter] but yeah, you pass. So I think you only take two points of Sanity loss. But of course, the choice is yours. Who knows what the rational decision is here?
Nic Rosenberg 47:51
Bobby's like a natural follower anyway, like barely has a personality or a sense of self to speak of. So I think like, especially seeing B.B. singing and like, handing over these flowers and doing all this, I think that maybe Bobby just kind of falls in line behind Billy, kind of gets into his like position of the formation that they do on stage for their opening, and is just like, ready to back Billy up.
Ross Bryant 48:18
Chris, the woman that you went on a date with years ago, is in this circle looking at you. What about her was monstrous when you went on your date?
cuppycup 48:27
I think it was her eating behavior. She was just this voracious eater, no utensils, [Nic makes eating sounds] Yeah, just like all over her face, and then she was trying to feed me in the same way.
Ross Bryant 48:37
She had a strange southern accent you couldn't quite place.
cuppycup 48:40
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 48:41
And even now you notice what you noticed back then, that the eyes are a little widely set, as they are on a lot of the people here. There's almost as if there's something deer-like about the shape of their skulls, and she's looking at you with just a beatific smile. So she comes out of the circle to take your hand, just as Bobby and Nate are pressing flowers into your other hand.
cuppycup 49:05
So I'm in a situation now where even if I found tape, I don't think I'd be able to get under the van and tape up the fuel line. So what I'm going to try to do is push through them, get into the driver's seat and see if there's enough fuel to get me at least outside of this town so I can start hoofing it.
Nic Rosenberg 49:20
Wow.
Ross Bryant 49:20
Great.
cuppycup 49:21
You're all under the spell.
Nic Rosenberg 49:23
Wow.
cuppycup 49:23
Look, I'm lovin' on myself, alright?
Paula Deming 49:27
Okay, but band rules are that we stick together. We outvoted you. Remember when Nate earlier was like, look, we've outvoted you. You have to...
cuppycup 49:34
Well, you can make a triangle. I'm trying to get the fuck out of here. [laughter] Does that involve, like, pushing and shoving through the crowd, like, can I get to the driver's seat for starters?
Matt Young 49:44
If he's trying to pull away from me, can I do a contested like, Fighting?
Paula Deming 49:48
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 49:48
Let's make it that. Why don't you do contested Brawl or a contested Strength roll?
Matt Young 49:52
Yeah.
cuppycup 49:52
Okay.
Matt Young 49:52
Brawl, yeah, I like that.
cuppycup 49:54
Alright. Okay. Well, it depends on his level of success, but I will spend Luck to get...
Ross Bryant 50:01
I will say that everyone in this town is beginning to shed their clothing.
cuppycup 50:05
Okay.
Ross Bryant 50:06
All around you.
Matt Young 50:07
And I notice that and I'm like,
Nate Highland (Matt) 50:08
Oh, just one second.
Matt Young 50:10
26 under 45. Can I spend Luck to, like, make it a harder success? Because I got Luck to burn.
cuppycup 50:17
Who's the aggressor here? I guess that's important, Ross, because I'll spend as much Luck as I need to to win here.
Ross Bryant 50:22
This was your idea from the start. So I feel like maybe you are the person who initiated this contested moment, so to speak.
cuppycup 50:30
Okay, the fight back wins in a tie. So you would need to spend too extreme, Matt, to win.
Ross Bryant 50:36
Do you have enough Luck to get you down to the lowest number?
cuppycup 50:40
To 1/5 of your skill.
Matt Young 50:42
I rolled a 26.
cuppycup 50:44
You probably have enough.
Matt Young 50:45
And I need to hit a nine, so I'd have to spend, math, 17. Oh yeah, I can definitely do that. 17.
cuppycup 50:54
Yeah. Okay.
Ross Bryant 50:56
Great. Here's how I think I want to rule this. Because you're equally matched. I want to say that maybe even Chris, you pull away, but Nate gets lucky, and you trip, and you stumble and fall before you reach the car, and you're there on the ground with the whole community now singing, and it opens its mouth in several planes, and the voices come out again. (makes guttural sounds) Annalise is taking its hand, and you can see Silas there like just in ecstasy, completely nude, just shaking with ecstasy, praising this thing in song, begging everyone to join their voices to this ecstatic choir.
Nate Highland (Matt) 51:20
Chris, our new manager wants us to go on tour.
Billy Baker (Paula) 51:45
Do the choreography with us, Chris.
Paula Deming 51:47
And B.B. starts to do those dance moves he was kind of doing when he was nervous before, he's doing them full out now.
cuppycup 51:53
I think, because I haven't lost any SAN, he's just like,
Chris Holloway (Cup) 51:56
No, no, no, no.
cuppycup 51:57
He's gonna try to roll under the van to hide from whatever is happening. Just like,
Chris Holloway (Cup) 52:02
No, no, you've all lost it. I'm going solo.
Bobby King (Nic) 52:06
Chris, you're acting like a real old guy right now.
Billy Baker (Paula) 52:12
You think you could go solo, Chris? Dude, no one even knows you're in this band.
Nate Highland (Matt) 52:17
Hey, Chris, you know what? If we got rid of you and replaced you with someone else, would we be The Other Side? Abso-fuckin-lutely.
cuppycup 52:30
I think even with those scathing burns, he looks at Bobby, intense eye contact,
Chris Holloway (Cup) 52:35
What did you just say?
Bobby King (Nic) 52:37
You heard me, you are acting like the oldest guy.
Nate Highland (Matt) 52:43
Yeah.
cuppycup 52:46
And I think with that, he's gonna rise to his feet and start undoing his cufflinks [laughter] and slowly remove all of his clothing.
Paula Deming 52:55
Yes!
52:57
Great. Wow. A happy ending? [laughter]
Paula Deming 53:03
The band stuck together.
Nic Rosenberg 53:05
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 53:06
The band stays together. A song now rises from all of your throats. You had been chosen, you had been marked. The mark of his sigil is upon you. Your voices pure and youthful. Well, most of them. [laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 53:25
Wow.
Ross Bryant 53:28
And this choir like rings out in the forest. Annalise takes the hand of the man, and the orgiastic festival begins. And perhaps, Chris, you fall back into the arms of the woman who you judged so harshly for her eating habits before, that they were bestial and rough. But what happens right now is far rougher and wow, the group stayed together, because if you change the parts of a thing, it is not what it was before. You have to stay together and something is born in the woods. A new song is sung, and when next, our four musicians perhaps take the stage, it is more overtly a hymn that is being sung from the throats of The Other Side, and the conversions that they make when they sing are hasty and ecstatic.
Nate Highland (Matt) 54:32
Hey girl (throat singing). [laughter]
cuppycup 54:40
Hey, you called us musicians, Ross, it does feel like a happy ending. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 54:46
Yeah.
Paula Deming 54:46
We don't mind. We're just harbingers of the end of the world.
Ross Bryant 54:51
Yeah, the world is changing. It is dying, nay improving, because that which dies always returns in the triple cycle. Yes.
cuppycup 55:02
I like to think the world doesn't even notice, like Alternative Rock's here, and we just dropped off the face of the earth.
Ross Bryant 55:11
But yeah, many things fall. Many things fail. The Cold War hasn't just ended. Perhaps everything has ended because of something that has been born here, here in this remote little town of Gundestrup. Something is slouching towards Bethlehem to be born, and it has four heralds singing a deathless song, and they definitely have the right stuff. [laughter] (group sings "The Right Stuff")
Matt Young 55:42
Man, it's sort of sad to think about a world where Cheers ends and there's no Frasier, because the monster takes over, and it's just like so sad. [laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 55:53
So much lost.
Paula Deming 55:54
Oh man.
cuppycup 55:56
Why do you have to deflate the room, Matt? [laughter]
Ross Bryant 56:00
A true tragedy. Lovely. I think that's it.
cuppycup 56:04
Oh, that was great, Ross. Thank you.
Nic Rosenberg 56:05
Awesome.
Paula Deming 56:52
Creepy, creepy, creepy. [Boy Band song "Chained" plays followed by B.B.]
Bobby King (Nic) 57:11
Girl.