And you can see, Ren, that Adam does feel very helped and cherished in this day that you've kind of set up for him, even as impromptu and wild as it was.He goes up to you, Ren, and just kind of awkwardly holding his bag.
He pays for everything because he just thinks it's his responsibility.He has the cash.Thank you, Ren.
Yeah, dude.I could've paid for that.No, no, no.No, no, no.You should let your... No, no, no.No, no, no.No, no, no.No, no, no.You should let your older sister treat you to some nice things in life.
I'll figure out how much that costs and I'll Venmo you the money, okay?It's on me.
He starts backing away.No, no, no.
Yeah.Where's the receipt?No, it's fine.See ya, bye.Wren chases Brintz after Adam.Wren will tackle her younger brother to the ground to get the receipt if she has to.
And you will have to.And the rest of the three of you just kind of look at the Wren and her brother, these two siblings, and it's just like, yeah, that seems about right.
Archie's gonna call out after Adam actually before you go.Let me know if you need any, if you want any like jewelry or like rings and stuff.I got some old ones that I don't exactly need anymore.So hit me up if you ever want any of those.
Oh, God, I have to think about jewelry.Not all the time.If you ever want to do like special if you want to do like throw it on every once in a while for like special things, like any casual meetup or something you feel like you want to
up, you want to up your game a little bit, then you can throw on a little piece, you can throw on a necklace, a ring or two, maybe.It doesn't have to.Just something to think about.
All of you can tell that there's definitely something healed in like a little part of Adam today.With the rest of the time for today,
So y'all have this plan, Chloe and Halcyon and Ren specifically, to seek out the fake actors or Professor Moore, leaning more towards the kids and then Arjun, potentially this plan to distract Natasha while it's happening.
Do y'all wait for the new day, like any particular circumstances or any attempts to like, get higher ground, specific advantages, anything you might want to roll for that?
I think before he goes to like, so it's before the stage actually starts, I think Arjun's gonna go grab, go to his classroom, like his file cabinet and actually grab the fake files that Natasha had slipped in just for like,
dramatic dramatic flair just like he has actually like hey what exactly is all this why the hell did you do this so he has at least something to do and not just like hey what is it and she's like oh what proof do you have
And imaginably, you've gone through these files before, just from me to Abhishek as well.They seem like fairly standard, straight up files.There's a little bit of information.It's not like resumes are needed or anything like that.
but like a little bit of like, there is like some application form situation of like availability and like interests and things like that.
Really the only thing that stood out in the first place was that these two were upfront about them being like journalism students.And it's like, it's generally like, you don't need like any kind of degree or to be a student or like any particular age
Other than 18+, I think, for your particular class.Mm-hmm.But it's just these files do stand out in a way that's just sort of like... Odd.They're odd, like oddly clean.Both of them have like identical formatted like files basically.Okay.
Yeah, and I think where other people might have like, email addresses or phone numbers or whatever, literally, whatever y'all your students have already had, for some reason, CancelNCC's files are just like sterile and don't have like, everything
That's just like the background for these files as well that you can definitely like capitalize on like these files are weird as fuck.Why did you do this?For Ren, Chloe and Halcyon.
So for Ren just kind of getting caught up with everything Chloe and Halcyon filling in.
that y'all got these phone numbers from the kids and to get on the same page as well y'all are going to be asking these kids to like for a specific job or to do a job.
I think that the premise for like getting them to meet us is like Hey, I offered you a job.I had some questions about your background or things that came up when I was checking it out.
And then once we have them in a space, um, talking more about like Natasha's class and people who potentially failed out of it, um, and maybe pressuring them to tell us everything they know, question mark.Got it.Okay.
Ren, Chloe, and Halcyon, the three of you, either bidding Arjun a due or in whatever fashion, you have the numbers.What do you say?
I think Chloe drafts. Hey, it's Alderwoman Chloe Min.Something came up when going through your background checks, would love to chat with you about it, and then sends the location address that Retten shared.
And after drafting that, she will show it to the group and be like, is this okay?Anything else?
I think Halcyon knows better than to add emojis in this time.
It's Alderwoman Min.What's up?
It's how I get the youth vote.The youth.
Oh my god, Jesus.CC responds.Cancel does not.CC says today?
and if I had other plans to do or something.Do you?The point is that what if I didn't?What if I did?Chloe reiterates the place and time.Christ.
And y'all will find soon enough, thankfully, the walkability of the town as well as potentially just like the proximity to the university. Ken Seal and Cece both show up wearing, they're kind of like still very usual.
Their casual appearance matches up with what they would wear also at university, as well as apparently stealing from the elderly at the community center.Both dressed very, Cece with the much more louder kind of like hair and makeup and outfit.
but comfortable and can still a little bit more toned down as well. The two of them, like, very awkwardly, like, non-verbally, kind of just, like, sit in front of you, Chloe.
They wince, kind of seeing Halcyon, and also just sort of, like, look at, over at Ren.CC specifically catches eyes with you, Ren, with, like, a, it's a strange expression.
It's, like, one of acknowledgement, like, one of, sorry, rather, one of recognition.
Do you work at Sebastian?
Yeah!Oh my god, yes!Are you, are you like a client?
No.I've just heard, you know, a couple of interesting things about that place.
Cece looks over to Chloe and Halcyon.Is she a part of all of this?
That's one way to put it. I mean, as a community, aren't we all a part of this?
Well, that's just really interesting.Everything considering.
No, it's not.Oh, my God.What?A mob front?Are you, like, dumb? Does that mean I'm part of the mob?
I think we can leave now, maybe, or this person can leave.Gesturing to Ren.
I don't know what kind of productive conversation you're expecting to have when we are literally just constantly being belittled in public all the time by people who should be looking out for, I don't know, people like us, students.
What, I'm the problem?You just accused me of being part of a mob, the mafia, the, what, I don't know, another word for it.But like, what?
I'm the problem?Organized crime.
Organized crime, thank you.You're welcome.Yeah.Do I look like I organize crime?
No, you do not.Not that you organize it, but maybe that you fucking participate in it.
Oh my god.Ooh, you pull out a little swear word.Aw.Does that make you feel tough?
What is this about?We know what you've been doing.And we're going to come down on it.The question is whether we come down on you or we come down on Professor Sheridan.
Cancel speaks up this time as CC is easy to rile at this moment, just sort of sighing, looks very guilty already.What do you want to know?
This is much easier than Chloe was expecting.So she's going to look towards Halcyon to be like, where do we actually start?I didn't expect them to just open up immediately.
Uh... Listen, we know that your professor's up to some bad stuff.We already know it.We have evidence.And we've caught you and your classmates stealing from old people, which is messed up.So what we want to know is what does Sheridan have on you?
to make you do these things.And if it's just for grades, and if it's not just for grades, why are you doing it?And also, I don't like you.I'm done.
Cancel nods like, that's fair.Okay, well, between Cece and I, we both have different reasons, I guess, so please don't. assume the worst out of Cece, necessarily.But Professor Sheridan is brilliant.
That's just, it's everything that we ever knew about her and her previous work.It was just We knew that what she appreciated was people that stick themselves out there in some way, some form.
And when we got to be her interns, got to be working for her while also her students, it was a dream, you know.She asked us, me and Cece, if we wanted extra credit for something.
Cece, you know, not to be rude or anything, but Cece is not a good student.Cece is not really on any scholarships or anything like that.
And there is an opportunity for our tuition to maybe go down through some grants if we did something, a few things for Professor Sheridan. We still don't really know why. It wasn't going to be stealing for an eternity, like forever.
These things were going to be stolen.We were going to give them back in some fashion, but there needed to be some disruption.There needed to be a problem created.
And then whoever would come out to find it and be out on top, maybe it would have been the police.Maybe it would have been like people just like going through the trash one day. But Professor Sheridan needed heat on the community center.
Chloe doesn't say anything at this point, but I think it's noteworthy that she is barely holding back from grinning, because this is exactly the kind of disruption that she also needs.Oh my god!
Jesus.And Cece picks up.I think she very notably scolds Quietly Cancel of like, we're in this together.You know, it would have been easy.It would have set us up in, I don't know, journalism, entertainment, or any kind of media communications.
And we could maybe even leave college.Maybe it wouldn't even have to be a money thing entirely. Peter and Till fucked up.So then it came our chance.It wasn't even going to mean that much.
It wasn't like, sure, maybe the community center may obviously it's a really important or whatever.But Professor Sheridan promised, whatever would happen, she would just get everything under control afterward.
just for some reason, one problem needed to be directed in one way.And now we're just gonna have to sit on like the next thing that we're gonna have to do.
Do you know what that next thing is going to be?
I mean, literally everything is as frustratingly 24 hours or like a call away from something, like some idea that she has. So like, we're exhausted, sure.
But taking going along with whatever you have in mind, isn't going to get us as far in our careers as Professor Sheridan's, which is just the entire mind headspace that we were working off of.So like, can you blame us?
Chloe glares at the other two and says, well, I'm not blaming you necessarily, but what do you think?Have you ever said no to one of her requests?What do you think would happen if you did?
We've never said no.And if we did, then we would get probably fucking dropped or something.
Is that what happened to Peter and Till?
Kind of.Yeah.They just like stopped getting involved because they were fucking spooked by something.
Do you know about any other students that she's... Have you worked with anyone else?Or other students that have dropped out?
I mean, first, she doesn't fail anybody.That's like, not the problem.The problem is if you get to go beyond and stand next to her, beside her.And like, she creates a pathway for you.
even like even beyond caldera voice like national news or like huge magazine publications.
I can see how that would be hard to turn down.Any questions from YouTube?
No.I think we got a good picture of what they're about.Yeah, I don't agree with it.
Yeah. Yeah.Yeah.I mean, I just feel like you guys are just like, dumb.Like, like not in like a bad way.Like in like a like a
you think that the world is just gonna like open up for you because you're doing like one person like bidding and you're like oh this person's like my idol oh she's like so great and then like you meet her and like she what she exploits you so she like dangles the carrot in front of you and you like run your little race and you're like oh my god i'm gonna get the carrot and then what
Cece stands up and slams her hands against the table in this very public area. and it gets in your face, Ren, to yell.She's the world, Halcyon, and a little bit of Chloe, but not to the full range, the spectrum of color in Cici's eyes at this point.
This flare, almost burning sensation of red going through Cici's eyes, even this flame behind and above her head. and cancel.
It's a little less noticeable to Chloe, but Halcyon from where you're sitting, seeing the two of them, there is a flame of red of the claustrophobic void going through their eyes through this huge, large reaction from CC.We're going to cut to Arjun.
Arjun, you are walking your way through the professor, the department hall, where all the professors have their offices for off hours.And you know that Natasha is in.These are like the specific office hours, we'll say.How do you approach?
How do you go about it with files in your hand?
Uh, I'm assuming there's probably like a, like a receptionist somewhere near like, yeah.He'll ask her where Natasha's office is.Yeah.Hi.Do you know where Natasha Sheridan's office is?Uh, it's very important that I speak with her.
Are you a student?Can I get you to sign in?You can call her and just let her know that Arjun is here to speak with her.She'll know what I mean.The receptionist, it looks at you like, okay, fucking weirdo.Um, but she is compelled, I think.
she goes over, has like a little like a whispered conversation where you can very clearly hear what she's saying.And then to her surprise, she slides back over in her chair, hangs up the phone, just down the hallway, 112.Thank you.
And he'll basically just make his way over to Natasha's office and stand right in front of it.Not exactly knocking just yet.But uh, He's going to compose himself a little bit because, uh, yeah, he's, this is going to be pretty big.
So it feels like he's going to need to get his A game on.
Okay.He got this.He got this.It's just Tasha.Just go in there and just, just do your thing.Just lay it on her.
Knock, knock, knock. Come in.Door opens and Arjun steps inside.
Natasha is in her usual asymmetrical bob, wearing sunglasses inside, has a big fur coat and everything, is wearing a very slim, stretchy material, black turtleneck bodycon dress and stilettos.What professor is this?But she smiles at you.
It looks like all of the furniture in here she, like, replaced with, like, way more modern shit.Take a seat.It's so nice for you to come down to visit me.Yeah, this isn't just a social call, alright?
Then whatever could it be?He's gonna shut the door at that and just... What the hell were you doing inside my classroom?At the community center.
Oh, well, that's such old news at this point.You didn't think to ask me anytime sooner?Just kind of came to your brain?I've had a lot.
I've had a lot of things to deal with right now.So if you'll forgive me if I'm a bit late on that.
Overworking, I guess.Well, is there a problem with me wanting to? do a little bit of extra work for some of my students.
They were very interested in the community center's acting classes because, you know, you're their favorite actor and you're local.It's an incredible story.
Yeah, see, Yeah, incredible story.Yeah, I see how you can think that, but it becomes a problem for me when you slam the files on her desk, when you happen to slip files like these inside.And whatever could be wrong with them?
Oh, cut the bullshit, Natasha.You know as well as I do that those are not real files.
She like opens them up with like a pen of hers.It's got their names on it, got their birthdays, and not sure what else you're expecting that they need to have.
He knows as well as I do that no actual human person just wrote that out.Just fill out, format it, exactly the same might I add.Just, you know, it's really strange.
Those are two separate people yet they're, uh, they're formatted almost exactly the same.Same info, same information, same wording almost, which is, uh, A little concerning, might I add.
I don't see the problem with me just trying to put something nice together for my students.You know, the youth these days, they all have anxiety or something.So a phone call at that point might have taken the two of them completely out.
So it's just a nice thing that I did.I put these two together myself.Sure, I may have just kind of put them together without really thinking too hard, but it's free acting classes. How hard do you need to think?How hard do you need to think?
And so you, and, and you go on about them.You could have, you could have easily just introduced them to me.Cause I mean, you always seem to know, you always seem to follow me around.You could have just brought them to me if you wanted to.
Instead, no, you had to sneak into my classroom and sneak those into my file cabinet.
All this talk, all this time, is you meeting me really just you trying to confront me with information that's not even true that I've been following you?
Well, we'll move past that then.What do you want with me, Natasha?I'm just going to be upfront and simple.What do you want with me?Why?Like why all this?Why go to all this trouble?And for once, for once, just be honest with me.
What I'm confused by is why you hate the public perception so much.You haven't been in a movie in so long.This way, I am helping you get your name out there without even a resume.
Sometimes people put like those like fake commercials out there to like get brands eyes on them.And for some reason, the actors get the job and not the people writing the thing or directing the thing. It's... I don't even need the acknowledgement.
I'm just giving you an opportunity, an avenue.Here's the thing, Natasha.
I never asked for that. If I was gonna be, if I was gonna land a part, I was gonna do it on my own merit, on my own skills.I didn't need, I didn't want you or need you to do any of this.
And certainly not on the way you did by pushing other people down, making them blame me for all the things that went wrong.
Well, listen, do you know what people also don't ask for, but they desperately need?Advice. I advise you to take all of what I am just trying to do for your career, for the people around you, to get a clue.
Get a clue, hmm.How do you figure?Please enlighten me.
Well, just firstly, I'm gonna need you to make a move.Okay.Make a stand.Make a stand, okay.This is a check against blood.
Okay, that is a weak hit.So I got one, I got a two and a five and my blood is three.
Okay, that is a weak hit.So it gets personal.Mark a condition, but you can choose the two within the list.
There it is, okay.I guess crystal mark and condition, but I can choose two.I'll probably choose they spend some time focused only on you, since I definitely want to give the others as much time as I possibly can get them.
Your words shake them, because I want to get this little spicy.Okay.To backtrack, we'll say, sorry, what also condition did you choose? I think I'm gonna mark callous for this one.Mm, totally, yeah.
To backtrack a little bit before Natasha responds, she's like almost studying your face at this point and really seeing that like, You probably have held it together for a while, even through getting stalked, even through getting chased by paparazzi.
Not that it didn't entirely not bother you or anything like that,
but she had never seen your face maybe this close and that's just always the thing like the stalker and the victim the humanization of you Arjun as not just a spectacle but as like a young person just trying to do his job and like do something amazing and like taxing on the emotions
There's definitely, she's like holding your, she's holding eye contact with you, like finally.
Like, and through her sunglasses, even though she doesn't take them off, there's like a thrill here that unfortunately she feels, but there is also something that is sinking in, maybe more subconsciously than actively.
But as you say, how do you figure after her telling you to get a clue?She,
clears her throat, which is not something really maybe ever you had experienced her do or like any gesture of like trying to recenter or reset her voice sort of lowers at this point. What do you think the paparazzi is for?It's tabloidy for a reason.
It's to make a bunch of false things true in the people's minds, but you have your own life.Don't you know by now that separating yourself is the whole thing about like future celebrity-dom?
When people chase after you, it's because they want something that isn't actually there.And when you don't give it to them, they want more.Your life is your own.People thinking a certain way of you, why not?Why not?
Imagine those people who feel certain ways, other actors who feel certain negative ways about me because of the things that, you know, the paparazzi, you, your students, whoever, write.
Imagine they have connections with big shots, other actors, directors, producers. They're all gonna suddenly, if they feel that negatively about me, they're all gonna, all of them are gonna be like, oh no, don't work with Arjun.
He's, insert negative things said here.That directly hurts me and my livelihood, my passion.
Why do you still care about passion?
Because without passion, what else is there in life?Sure, you have money, material things, but Without passion, without that zest, that spice for life, is any of it really worth living for?I know it wouldn't be for me.
So I refuse to let my passion die for that.
You're still so young, Arjun.Maybe this entire time, maybe I'm just trying to get you to understand.I'm just trying to help you. The fact that you don't want my help is also such a big mistake.
Arjun at this point, pretty much just, he's just going to shake, shake his head.
Considering as it's like, as Bruce were basically sounds like we're gonna keep coming back to, Oh, it's also going to be like, Oh, I feel like I need to, I feel like you need my help.
And, um, it sounds like she's going to keep giving it no matter what Arjun says.Then I'll just keep making that mistake, honestly.But you can take your help and shove it where the sun don't shine.
Natasha is cut off by, I'm not actually sure if you are even able to see it, but through Natasha's perspective, very suddenly behind your own head, Arjun, is a very sudden fire and flare, this like glitch in the real world.
the void coming in, like some sort of radar, some sort of sensor, like on the wall imprinted somewhere, and it is in the shape of what seems to be Sisu's eyes and Cancel's eyes.And she blinks
Again, you've never seen her have to reset or recenter, but she blinks and interrupts herself before she looks over at you, smiling.Arjun, we could have been a great team. And suddenly, Arjun, there is a great gust of wind or something.
There is this great heat that is so familiar to you at this point.Red flashes all over the room somehow, like office supplies and index cards and files just flow open and float out.
The files of Cancel and Cece's actor reports just sort of like flips open suddenly and all of the wind begins to centralize and flies everything into this vortex within the files.And then the red and the wind and the lights all suddenly stop.
And Natasha is not there anymore.And you are alone in her office. And all of you, not just Arjun, but Ren, Chloe, Halcyon, Varun, off busy wherever he is in the real world.Again, the searing heat, the sudden mystery flooding everyone's senses.
The investigation clock ticks to hunting.And everyone, please, take two ticks of stress. We did it!
And that is where we will end this session.
My God. 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 Matange, 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.
Leanna 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 Oxus Spirit Bear, plays Varun Pillay.
You can find him as a main cast member of Transplanar 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 werebeast twist.
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