So Ren, you've created a group chat that has not been spoken in for like days, hours, whatever.And then suddenly, Adam, you can like feel the like timid nature of his voice coming through even just through text.
And is like, I know there's still time, but like, I have like a day off today.Could we go to a thrift store?
Ren looks at this and goes, like, out loud, a thrift store?What?What?And then she types out, what?And then she asks Arjun and is like, do you know what a thrift store is?Even though Adam is the one who said it.
Arjun types, yes, I know what a thrift store is, Ren.
Ren's like, oh, okay, cool.Yeah, sure, let's go. And then in a separate text message, text Arjun and is like, I don't know if like, Adam knows what a thrift store is.Like I know you know, but I don't know if he knows.You know what I mean?
Well, I mean, if he doesn't, today's gonna be a great day for him to find out.Okay.
She sends sobbing emojis.
What kind of thrift store do y'all take him to?
Honestly, I'm wondering if the community center might have something adjacent, something nearby it.
Yeah, probably might just be one near there, like a Willgood, we'll call it that.
I feel like Arjun could probably
text group was like, Hey, going through some outfits, and I can use some I can use y'all all of you guys's opinions, mainly sent to like, in the group chat with Halcyon and the others, pretty much a group chat with everyone, not everyone has to respond, aka Baroon.
Yeah, I think Chloe assumes that this is some spy shit, and that it's actually a request for information.And so she is like, Sure, I'll meet you there.
Halcyon, I think, doesn't reply, but just shows up and is like ready to go.
So Halcyon and Chloe, the two of you expecting something fully so formal.The two of you show up and Ren and Arjun and Ren's little brother is there.And it's a thrift store.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that this might actually be Halcyon's first time at a thrift store.I feel like they probably got a lot of their clothes just from like, you know, what's around, like, you know, like stuff just sitting around.
Dead people's clothes. Yes, basically.
Like stuff that was like donated and like is supposed to go to a thrift store, but never actually made it there.And they're like, hey, if you want to look through it, this is stuff that we're donating.
And so like Halcyon kind of just pulled from all of that.And so actually going to a clothing store and seeing all of the clothing.And it's also, you know, kid in a candy shop type of a deal.So Halcyon, I feel like kind of immediately is like,
Okay, all right, we can do this.I'm gonna look at all of these, every single item, and I will choose the best ones for each of us, yes?Go for it.
Okay, all right.So Halcyon is going to go around searching through the aisles, but it basically is pulling the same thing for everyone, which amounts to like a hey mamas lesbian type outfit. Oh my God.
But like for everybody, because that's kind of Halcyon style is like, so like there are individual outfits, but they all kind of look the same.And that's what I'm gonna be doing, so.
I think, I'm just wondering what Chloe thinks of all this, like yeah, thrift store, information, wait.
Yeah, I think Chloe is sort of awkwardly tagging along because there's a chance that she knows Adam, but certainly not closely.And so she's kind of like an awkward fifth wheel in a way that just seems to go completely over Halcyon's head.
So it's fine for them, but it is not fine for Chloe.
Oh, dear God.Adam speaks up.Um, Was it gonna be this many people from the beginning?
Well, I mean, it never, I mean, I don't know.I don't know what your sister had in mind, but I always feel like you can't really go wrong with having a bunch of different opinions from people.So I decided to call them here.Okay.
Where do we get started then? Okay.So remind me again what exactly you're looking to update about your wardrobe.Everything.I need to look younger.I just. Look at him.Reminds me again how he's dressed today.
He's like just like his dad like still to this like he's still it's like his frat is like everyone dresses up suits like every day sort of thing which means that he doesn't have like casual wear so when he's asked to wear something casual for like any particular event he's still overdressed and looks like he's 40.
While people are looking up and down, Halcyon returns with arms full of snapbacks and just gently just putting one on each person's head to get a vibe of what's working and what's not.It's just like artists at work.Okay.Artists at work.
Artists at work.Oh my God.
Yes. See, Ren, I didn't actually believe you when you texted me, but looking at it now, yeah.
Wait, you didn't believe me?
Well, when you described it, I had a hard time believing it, but I mean, looking at it now, yeah, you definitely put that into words.
Yeah.I mean, like, he's here.Yay!But like, you know, he's, look at him.I just, I feel like, you know, he needs to be, like he's handsome, the bones are there, but like everything else is just ridiculous looking.
Let's not go that far.But I do agree.He does have the potential.
So yeah, that's what I said.That's what I said.
Again, I'm just let's not go too far with all that again.Just let's just let's just let's just let's let let me just do my little fairy godfather magic here.So okay. Uh, so Arjun's going to take Adam by the hand and basically just follow me.Okay.
Ren is going to be taking the snapback and just like bring the bill around to her front and like pretending she's like a hero in an action movie.Just being like, yeah, it's a bad couple of days.And then putting it back and forth just in the mirror.
Uh, so I guess as, uh, as we sort of, I guess, peruse along the thrift, the, the, the thrift shop aisle, seeing what, what kind of catches, uh, Arjun's eye, he does, what, what, would I need to roll anything to see if I can catch, that would catch my eye for, for just for the funnies or anything?
No, only if you want to, but not necessarily, definitely.You don't have to roll anything in particular.It's just, it's your taste.
Okay. I think Arjun would notice a decent pair of chinos along with a nice turtleneck and a nice little pair of Converse sneakers actually.
So we'll grab those over, bring them over, and along the way he'll grab a, he actually just bought a denim jacket actually at the last part, so he'll grab that as well.So head to the changing room, try these on.
Trust me, you're going to look so much younger.
Okay, yeah, I'll try.While he is scurried off into the changing room, What is Ren and Chloe looking at?I'm assuming Halcyon's maybe still on this like... Yeah, I'm picking up jerseys now, so... Looking at jerseys.
Ren and Chloe, what are you kind of busying yourself with for the moment?
Chloe has delicately found the exact spot that the snapback came from and has put it back.But is taking to this new quest a little bit and looking around for some things for Adam.
The problem, I think, is that Chloe dresses business casual most of the time.Oh no.It's counterproductive.
she's finding like some nice like button downs and like a blazer and she's like oh well he could dress this down he doesn't have anything to dress this down with so yeah he doesn't have essentials for casuals which is hilarious i think while i think while uh adams in the changing room are just gonna go look around for some more stuff to get like frost be carried like three or four other different outfits basically i think that ren so
Most of the times when Wren meets Adam on campus, she is dressed in a very ridiculous outfit that she's only wearing to purposefully embarrass her younger brother.
So for the majority of the time, the team will see her in casual, minimalistic, kind of baggy clothes, regular street fashion.But when she meets her brother, she's in gaudy, mismatching patterns, mismatching colors.
meme t-shirts that are like, you know, oh, like, a good day of fishing beats a day in anger management or something.And so she's searching for those t-shirts, because even though
Like she's not wearing those types of t-shirts right now because she was aware that the entire team was coming and it wasn't just going to be her, Arjun and Adam.
She is purposely looking for those t-shirts to like just see her brother in them and then maybe take some photos of him wearing those shirts.
Adam has finally come out of the changing room after the first outfit and you can see it very clearly like it has brightened up like the color in his face and like his hairstyle and everything like he doesn't have a very gel slicked back or like coif like thing he's really just trying to like
emulate from like older men or like even just some strange mimic mimicking of his other peers this looks like an 18 19 year old proper boy and like ren i think seeing that in your younger brother maybe for like the first time in maybe a year or two is interesting or however you feel about it um but he just kind of like shrugs kind of like looks around i like it
Cool, like, do you feel confident?
I mean, and I think you can see very clearly he doesn't know how to, like, stand in his body, but that's not, like, an outfit thing.
Oh, yeah, that's definitely a confidence thing, so I think, yeah.
Do you like, so you like it?I mean, I like it.I think it looks great, dude.
Yeah, like, it's not too big of, like, you know what you usually, I mean, it's not too big of, a change, which is good.I can keep up with this.
Yeah, I feel like, you know, just stand up a little straighter and like, you know, be proud.You look great.Oh my god, you look so good.
Um, your one friend, Varun, he was talking about, he's the one that like told me about thrift stores, shops.
And he had this, um, I think it was like a flower, like a Hawaiian kind of shirt, like kind of something floral.Like it didn't, it felt like it was the only loud kind of part of the outfit and it looked nice.
Oh, you want like a statement piece?
Maybe?Maybe?I don't know.I don't know if I can pull off that kind of thing.
Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be Hawaiian, but definitely a statement piece should be there. For sure.
Yeah.And like pulling off is like a, it's like a mentality.It's not like a physical out thing.Like it's, it's, it's your mental, like just get your mental in order.You know what I mean?
Yeah.So the way I, the way I like to think about it is you wear the clothes, the clothes don't wear you.So don't think about it as having to like, Oh, I don't know if I can pull this off.Your confidence is what makes you pull this off.
So as long as you feel good, you feel confident, and you're like, nah, you know what?I look good.Everyone's gonna be like, oh, you pulled that off so well.You look amazing in that outfit, no matter what outfit you wear.
You could be wearing a clown outfit, and if you look confident, I'm like, ah, you pull off that clown outfit so well.
Yeah, but like, don't wear a clown outfit.
Probably don't wear the clown outfit, but you get what I mean, right?I think so.
Okay, yeah, I can.I'm gonna I want to look around a little bit, maybe try some stuff and see if I can put something together that maybe y'all like.Yeah, definitely.Okay.And Adam scurries off to like some of the other
like aisles and like racks of clothing that he can kind of go through without like not necessarily y'all's watchful eyes but even the very like suddenly like proud feeling of someone trying out new clothes makes him feel a little self-conscious in like a fun like teenager way.
So the four of you Kind of have this moment for now, just standing in the thrift store with the weight of whatever yesterday was like for the four of you.
This is a great idea for cover.Who came up with it?Huh? like meeting at a thrift store, people won't listen to us or think we're plotting.That is why we're here, right?
No, we're here for my brother.Have you been paying attention?
Chloe has not been paying attention.
Does Chloe want to admit that?
No.I mean, I thought that it was like a two birds with one stone type thing.
Oh, okay, and the stone is a thrift store?Exactly.
Sure.Wasn't exactly our intention when that idea first got pitched, but sure, let's go with that.
So like, how did- y'all go?Because I know like Varun went to talk to my brother.How did y'all's little adventure go?I mean, the two from
the funeral place that we saw stealing.They seemed pretty nervous about us being there.But I got their phone numbers.I don't know.It might be useful.And the professor pulled Halcyon out for some reason.What was that about?
He wanted to know if I was doing all right.And I was like, yeah, I'm fine.And he asked if I was in danger.And I said, not right now.
What do you mean not right now?
Why did you say that?Because we were in danger before and I assume we'll be in danger again, but right now we're fine.
They've got a point.Thank you.We're with Chloe.We're always in danger.
Oh my God. You'd see Arjun pinching his bridge of his nose.The whole point was to be incognito, not draw attention.
Oh!Then why did I say hi to Professor Sheridan?
What do you mean why?Well, you did that to...
I don't know, part of it, I don't know if you were just being you, but I'm hoping that you'd also did that to help possibly, you know, not let her see me, but you know, still wondering why exactly you said hi to her in the first place.
Well, she was there, right?Shouldn't you go straight to the source to like ask questions and stuff? I think you did great.Aw.Aw.You know what, Halcyon?I really liked all the snapbacks that you got us.
You did?Yeah.I thought it really suited everybody.And then also, we could have a matching uniform, kind of.
Oh, that's so great.Chloe, where's your snapback?
I mean, I think if we're trying to be incognito, a uniform seems like a bad idea.
Do you have anything further, like a reason for disagreeing or just sort of being contrary?
I think you know the answer to that.
Yeah, so uniforms are a bad idea.But the snapbacks look really cute on you all.Where's yours?I can't be tied to you.
Vagrants, you say?Wow.Oh, my God.He's like marginally accepting and mock like, oh, you wound me.
It's okay.I guess it wasn't really your style.
Yes.Your style is what we're trying to push Adam away from. I think that's a good, that's correct.It wasn't your style.Anyways, I feel like Professor Sheridan or Natasha or whatever you want to call her, like, she just seems like, you know,
You like hear about successful women in this town and then you like talk to them and you meet them and you're like, oh, you kind of suck.And I feel like that's just really true here.
I mean, I don't think that's a pattern with all successful women in this town.I think that it's just Natasha, but
Oh, that's of course, of course you would say that.But you know, she like only got to where she was because of like her money.So probably similar.
Does she have money?Oh, yeah.
Turns out she's pretty much funding the bulk if not the entirety of the of the university's journalism department.
That feels like a conflict of interest or something.
If she has all this money, why is she stealing from the dead people?Is that how she got all the money?
That is a good question.That could be possibly it, that she could also be just looking for to use it for her scoops maybe, who knows.
Isn't she like telling her students, so I feel like she's like telling her students to like steal for like extra credit and then like using the fact that they stole to like blackmail them or something, you know?
Like, oh, you do anything for a grade, because that's how like universities are, like they're like, oh my God, your grades are everything.And then once you like do something, you regret.
you're like, oh, now my life is like forfeit and I need to obey this woman's whims.
That's actually terrifying and that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, knowing Natasha.
Is there any way to talk to find someone who like failed out of her class?Maybe they refused to steal and we could learn about what she's been asking them?
Don't you guys have those people's phone numbers?Couldn't you just ask them?Did somebody fail?
Failures, woo.Well, there is that professor.We could ask if any of his students have failed out of Natasha's class.
Oh, Professor... Yeah, that guy.He was like... He, like, hated Natasha.He was... Yeah.And I don't think he has any friends either.
No, we asked him, right?We were like, do you and your, like, colleagues, like, chat after work?And he was like, no.
Do we want to invite him into the group if he doesn't have any friends?
I didn't have any friends before this.We probably shouldn't because he also mentioned he doesn't know exactly if Natasha could overhear it because she might be tapped into some information networks knowing her.
I mean, how soon?I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible.I feel like you have a real soft spot for corrupt or people who have no friends and you want to invite them into this group, but you've done that once already.
I'm like, you got to stop.
We can't- Yeah, but it worked out okay.
I'm sorry, are you talking about me?Do you have friends? Of course I have friends!I have a fi- well, I almost have a fiancé!
Oh, a fiancé!I didn't realize that you guys progressed that far.Ugh.Damn.Does Varun know that you have a fiancé?
I haven't talked to him about it yet.
What is it?Why would that matter for him, do you think?
I don't know.That's a great question.I feel like you know, right?Cause you're so close to his older brother, fiance, boyfriend, life partner.
I let them keep their family business where they need to keep it.I'm not part of the family yet.
Ugh. Back on topic, if we would.Yeah.
Just, okay.Just this question still stands.What are we going to do now?Cause we have a couple options ahead of us.
We could like, uh, like was suggested, find one of his older students, find one of Natasha's older students who failed and get some information out of them.
or we could just take the fight to her if we really want to, but I'd really rather not considering the attention we've already probably attracted to ourselves.God knows what she's writing now, Jesus.
I mean, I don't think she's gonna be writing anything, right?It's her students that are writing, right?Isn't that what we saw in the meltdown?It wasn't her. It was like her students for her.
Maybe that's what she's using the blackmail leverage for.She's using them to steal, she gets them to steal for a grade, then uses the leverage to have her students write her articles for her.
Mm-hmm, but then like, where does she get the money?
I wanna know.Could be sponsors, could be old, could be your family maybe, I don't know.
Well, okay, so we already talked with the professors, so what do you guys who talked to the students and met those two and got their phone numbers, what do you guys wanna do?
They don't really like us, so... Oh.I think if we want to use the professor, we could do that.We could also get them both in the same place, tell them to meet, make them compare stories and see if we can get more information that way.
Oh my God, you know what we could do?We could like put them into two separate rooms and then gaslight them into like thinking that the other person snitched. and then see who confesses first.
Like a prisoner's dilemma.
Yeah.Right?Is that not the, sorry, is that not what we're doing?I'm cool with anything.
That's one extreme way to do that, honestly. But I definitely think we should reach out to the professor.
It's just, we'll have to be careful about it, because he did mention that he could, that Natasha's, I guess, Natasha could have feelers out and monitoring anyone in the department, so we're gonna have to be careful with it.
Why don't we just visit him again, like all four of us?Like we'll have the alderman, oh my God.And then we can like pretend we're there on like official business.Like if anybody reports back, we can just be like, oh, Chloe's doing her thing.
I mean, at this point, she must know that we're onto her, right?Yeah, I think so.
Most likely, she wouldn't. She probably, someone's probably already told her something.
Okay, then like, there's no reason to like, be sneaky.If she's like, always looking out for us, we have to act.Otherwise, like, then like, if we just try to be sneaky all the time, she's gonna like, block us.So we might as well just like,
do something big, get her attention or get like all of her peoples and all her networks like attention on that something big.
And then like the rest of us can scamper around and like, you know, get information and then find somebody who maybe failed out of her class and then like get to the bottom of it.
Fine.I guess if we have to just Ugh.God, this is so not gonna go well.
Unless you guys have a better idea, which I'll listen to, I guess.
I mean, I unfortunately don't.As loathe as I am to admit it, I don't have a better idea than that.
The only thing that I have is I got some advice recently. that the best way to deal with a problem is to make a bigger, different problem.So maybe we could distract her with Arjun.I mean, you already confronted her about being in your classroom.
So you could confront her about that again and distract her and she'll think that that's the only thing we know and that's the only thing we care about.Meanwhile, we go and work on the other things.
Or we can work on the other things and pretend that the reason that we're there at all is because we care about her snooping around the classroom and we want to learn about journalistic ethics or something.
Fine.All right.That, I can, if it's a distraction you need, I can do that.I mean, I already, I already want to give her a piece of my mind anyway, but that's, that's a whole different, that's a whole nother can of worms.
I mean, if you don't want to confront her, that's fine.
I just... I don't know, maybe we could... Go ahead, go ahead.
We could have it in our back pocket when she catches us.
Honestly, I think that might just be the easiest way for us to explain why we're there.So let's just do that. Who knows, it might be slightly cathartic for me to actually confront her about it.
Yeah, I mean, like, she's not that, like, scary.So, like, just give her a piece of your mind and then we'll run around and boom, it'll be solved.
You don't think she's scary now?Wait till she's followed you around and nearly stalked you home.
Yeah, I mean, like, That's messed up.But I mean, you know, is she gonna tase you?I would hope not.Yeah, what actual harm?I'm not trying to diminish, I guess I am coming off that way, but if you think about it, there's no physical threat
So the only thing she has on you is, like, the mental game.And as long as you beat her at the mental game, she doesn't have anything.
It's just, God, I've put, I've just, I've avoided talking to her for so long because just, ugh, I can already tell there's gonna be no good.But I guess if, If it's the best way to do it, I'll do it.Like, do this, I'll do it.
But I'm gonna need to grab something to make, at least make it look convincing.
Okay.And then, what, so me, or, so how soon Chloe and I will, what, talk to those two kids?
You can either talk to those two kids.You can probably see if you can find the professor we talked to.Get some info out of him regarding that while I'm distracting Natasha.
What do you guys want to do, Halcyon, Chloe?
The kids are scared of me.I think it'll be effective.Okay.
Fear is an effective tool.Yeah.
Did you want to try to just find them on campus or should I try texting them and ordering them to meet us somewhere?Offer them a job, right?
That's why you said you wanted it.Yeah.Oh my God.You know what you could do? You could do like, um, I want to talk to you about something, meet here and like, let their brains scamper around about like what you're talking to them about.
Do we want their brains scampering?If they're scampering too hard, they might scamper right to Natasha.
Okay.I guess.I just feel like there needs to be like an uneven balance.You know what I mean?
I mean, there already is their children and I'm a member of the city council.
Oh, that's right.Like you're old.OK.Oh my god.Right.Sorry.Forgot about that.OK.Yeah.Offer them a job.Work.
You could say something, you could say we were, I'm calling to offer you about, um, I want to talk to you about the son that came up while I was reviewing your, I don't know, information, I guess.I don't know.
I mean, they didn't provide information, but who knows what they think I can do.
You could, uh, you could just, you could have said you did a background search on them.
Oh, okay.You can do that.
I mean, you said we wanted them scared, right?
Yeah, but like, can you actually run background checks on people?
If I'm hiring them for a government position, of course I can.
Yeah, I remember I had to get a clearance for one of my acting roles.Yeah, that was fun.
Okay, work.Then just do that.
Okay, where should we meet?
Oh, you shouldn't take them to one of your favorite cafes.
Preferably, probably somewhere quiet and isolated, most likely.
Well, those cafes are actually really popular, so it's probably not the best if we don't want to draw a dungeon.I mean, I feel like your type of place, Red, shouldn't have a lot of people around.
Oh, you know, something cozy and affordable.
Okay.I don't think your chairless, soulless, cinderblock of a restaurant or whatever is popular. But I'll, sure, you can go to one of my cozy neighborhood, support local businesses, places.
Great, give me the name and address.
Ren looks like someone is pulling her teeth out as she pulls up like her go-to spot.That is like, she knows the owner.She knows pretty much, like everybody knows her order. They know her by name.And she sends it to Chloe.
And she like texts like a pin to Chloe.And she's like, Oh, my God.
Adam shows up after a very long time at this point and looks like he is gonna go golfing somewhere like in Florida. It's just like a bright pink visor and all the wrong colors are getting hit, all the wrong sizes.And he's just like, how's this?
Do you like it?Do you like it?Do you like it?
I don't know.I don't know.
I think RJ is going to guide me over to your mirror.So I want you to look.Why don't you tell me what you think you don't like about it?
Josephine at Scary Dog Friend plays the architect and edits the show.The biggest thanks to Minerva McJanda for creating our system, Voidheart Symphony.You can find Josephine producing actual plays at Badhaus RPG and Nameless Domain.
Other podcasts you can find her include Someplace to Be, a system-hopping actual play with an indie focus, and MonsterFuckers Anonymous, rating and dating your favorite monsters everywhere you listen to your podcasts.
Thanks again to Goblets and Gays for hosting us, and all the music you hear today is from Epidemic Sound.
Abhishek Matanke, he him, plays Arjun Kumar.
You can find him voice acting, as well as starring in other TTRBG APs, such as Zenith, over at Sword and Key, premiering August 29th, as well as Iron Sworn the Valley, Season 2, over at Nerves with Dice, premiering September 5th.
You can also find him being a huge tokusatsu nerd over at neon underscore raiden, at twitter.com.
Alyssa, at a disaster career, plays Chloe, penitent.You can find them here on Goblets and Gaze, for our Pathfinder series Tyrant of the Dark Star, as well as on An Unwavering Force, a Star Wars actual play.
Donna, she, her, plays Ren Kang.You can find her voice acting, playing other TTRPGs, and overall being a goofy gal at Shawbro on Twitter.com.
Liana Albanese, any pronouns, plays Halcyon. You can find them acting, producing, and generally goofing around at Leanna Albany's On All Platforms.
Valiant Dorian, at Valiant Dorian or at Otso's Spirit Bear, plays Varun Pillay.
You can find him as a main cast member of Transpanner RPG's The Chaos Protocol, hosting his TTRPG talk show Dicey Banta, and designing wild-hearted monstrous games like his in-development TTRPG
The Beast Within, a grungy action RPG with a weird beast twist.
Adam comes out with the first outfit and it looks genuinely, he has completely, I almost said euthanized, that's not correct.
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