#thren writes

[haunted-hijinxer]

How does the lurker feel about being in bendy form? Does he ever wish he had a unique body, one that he can truly call his?

It might be a bit of an odd perspective, but I don't think the Lurker sees the Bendy form coming from a character Henry and Joey made and it being "his" as mutually exclusive? Just as many people can look alike, or many people can have the same job title, he considers himself "a" Bendy more than stealing the form of the one and only true Bendy.

He WAS however initially worried that the JDS crew might expect him to be some version of the Bendy from the cartoons, just as the Masked Messenger before them had expected him to take on forms to bring to life the nightmares of other Hosts, distorting their expectations. But the boys made it clear to him early on they didn't expect him to be that. From his perspective, they gave him a form even though it was precious to them, and told him he could be whatever he wanted with it. He was expected to be neither the cartoon Bendy nor some specific distortion of it... Just his.

Initially I also don't think he'd even considered the concept of an identity he made completely and entirely for himself. The idea of being given one as a starting point and then being allowed to shape it or change it if he wanted was about as wonderous as he could imagine. As time went on it's possible he might have come to yearn for such a thing... if he had felt pressured into a specific Bendylike roll. But he never was. I think he feels he's been able to invent everything about himself that matters to him.

In fact in some ways, I think he's even more attached to the form because it was given to him so freely despite it resembling something that came from them. After all, that makes it just the sort of form he would have wanted for himself anyway; one that reflects him being part of their family.

[inkdemonapologist]

this wouldn’t be wiggling in my brain so much if Constance’s antidote weren’t also made with iron oxide specifically like.............................. what are we supposed to do with this. why did the rust go away. does ink eat rust.

[image transcription:

a screenshot of a discord message with two excerpts from The Lost Ones describing the Ink Machine. The first excerpt is labelled “Bill” and contains the description “It looked new but used. The metal had a sheen to it, but the seams were rusting a little.” The second excerpt is labelled “Brant, a couple days later” and contains the description “The whole thing looked relatively new; the metal gleamed. There was no sign of rust.”]

[inkyvendingmachine]

What's your favorite moment from each of the Call of Cthulu / Bendy seasons so far?

oh my gosh, uh,

Season 1

It's actually not really a scene that is super mentioned anywhere, because it's from the first episode. But there was a point where Joey and Sammy start arguing about why are we in Haiti / why do we have guns?!? which like, was the first point that I think both Shazz and I actually just slipped into character? up until then it was very "i move into the next room." and the argument/back and forth and finding how these characters interact was just Very Fun.

Season 2

Hands down it's when Joey gets to take over Doc Moonlight's dream spell and turn it back on him. Gosh I love that scene SO MUCH i was screaming as I was writing it and whenever I need a boost of Joey Drew energy to write more I go and re-read that scene haha

Season 3

Oh man uhh. Gosh there's SO MANY. I guess I need to go with Saving Jack And Sammy from being Kidnapped By Mobsters by starting a Musical Riot In A Fancy Restaurant scene, just between being so excited that THE DUMB PLAN WORKED and also being able to debut the Cooler Faster Ink Demon transformation. (which was very in the moment me franctically reading thru my spells list for ANYTHING I could possibly do and coming across something that I had forgotten was added?? or Thren added when I wasn't looking, and just being like "uhhh, I can turn into... a cooler, faster ink demon?????? i wanna do that please!!"

Close runner up tho is Pointy Henry slashing Prophet through with his soul scythe after Prophet had warned Joey that Henry like this was Dangerous Like This lmao.

[clownsecret]

im writing a durge/orin fic where orin is in toxic yuri love with my durge threnody but thren feels nothing but disgust and disdain for orin. like she'll fuck orin, but only to hurt her. threnody's entire feelings for orin is just this.

anyway, threnody tolerates orin only because bhaal forbids her to kill her blood-sister. on the day bhaal finally allows her to kill orin, threnody fully intends to skin her alive and make her into boots (they'll have +5 deception) and then strangle her with her own entrails. the list of things threnody would not do to orin is very very short

[batimcthulhu]

I wanted to let you guys know I've recently gotten into DnD (About half way through playing my first campaign) and this AU convinced me to learn how to DM. I'm now writing a Fnaf-themed campaign for my nerdy friends based off of the Lost Mine campaign, inspired by your guys' CoC parody. Thanks a ton :)

Voice of Thren: Aaaa, I'm so glad!! Tabletop games have meant so much to me over the years and been such a memorable part of so many friendships, I'm delighted if this game has encouraged others to give it a try! I hope you and your group have a blast too! Even when games are rocky they can be SO much fun, and when a game goes well there's nothing quite like it.

[ammoniteflesh]

I like to add a little non-canon flourish to my worldstates - because that's the appeal of writing fic, for me. In that vein... what if Thren's surviving sibling was Bethany...

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Wednesday 20 June 1838

5 10

10

Damp rainy disagreeable morning – Off from Paris (hotel de la Terrasse, r. de Rivoli, tenu par Madame Vivienne Lemoyne – Drouet gone 2 or 3 years ago having fait mauvaises affaires) Off from Paris at 6 40 – changed horses at Sèvre and at 8 7 alighted to breakfast à l’hotel de Rennes about opposite the post at Versailles – wish we had come here before for civil people – a good enough little room to breakfast in (waited 20 minutes) and a little room close by that just suited us – 2 baskets strawberries 4/. + breakfast 4/. + garcon ./50 very well for Versailles – our servants began on board wages at 4/. a day each – George said he would do just as I liked – could not live as Josephine did – I said he might change – and give up the board wages whenever he liked – En route again again at 9 ¾ - very small recollection of the

Coignières small good village

Épernon picturesque little place

Off from Maintenon at 3 pm

road to Rambouillet – no peep at the old chateau – we had hardly got 200 or 300 yards out of Épernon when the ole-end came off – tied it on and fastened our volet as well as we could –

Maintenon picturesque little town – from the bridge leading out of it nice view of the nice old chateau (in its chapel Louis XIV married Madame de M-) and along the little river thro’ the tall arches of Louis 14ths’ ruined or never finished aqueduct – at 3 ½ 1st view of the cathedral of

at Chartres at 4 35 Hotel de la Poste

Chartres and its 2 tall sharp pointed [?] – alight at la poste near the boulevard in a large place on the highest ground of and at one extremity of the town, where seem to be all the Inns (one looking as good as another) – all Diligence houses – the cathedral at not great distance – go across the Place, and past the little theatre and at the cathedral at 5 10 not aware it was disroofed by fire in 1836 by the negligence of a plumber, whose fire-pan set fire to wood-roof where it was standing, and, the wind being strong, the whole of the Spanish chesnut wood charpente was consumed in ½ hour – midway the nave (north side) is a sort of tribune or large pew containing 2 or 3 long benches with backs to them – opposite the pulpit – and over this tribune fixed against the great pillar is a very well carved oak pannel (done by a menuisier of Chartres) representing the virgin holding down at the right foot the devil in chain, and her left a kneeling angel praying to her for help – the cathedral is carved in the distance behind her, and little angels are hovering round her in the clouds – below this piece of excellent model carving (just finished) is the following inscription on a black marble slab also fixed against the pillar

Daemonem in hanc aedem sacram flammas

Jamque per turres et tabulate horrifice debacchatum ejaculantem

Maria, injecto fraeno, coercet. Angelus, urbis custos, ut sibi liceat

illam contra ignes tutari à virgine rogat, annuitque Deipara.

Misericordiae Domini quia non sumus consumpti.

Thren. c.3. v. 22.

Praedictum incendium accidit die iv Juine MDCCCXXXVI

the nave of this cathedral said to be so dark, one cannot see to read by daylight except by a very strong light – the painted windows are certainly very dark – very much dark colour particularly blue – but yet I can see to write my pencil notes at this hour 5 ½ p,. and do not dislike the sombre aspect of the church interior – the screen is much admired – that fronting the nave tho’ the figures may be good is too solid – too white (marble I suppose) too  much a blocus – one can only see into the choir thro’ the grille of the gate – but the old gothic [tinte]-darkened white marble de Carrara round the side and back of the choir, is very beautiful – in the style of the York minster screen – the figures in very high relief – representing divers scenes in the life of our Saviour and............... it was here that St. Bernard preached the 2nd crusade in 1145. – the organ is perched up in the nave over the top of the 2nd arch (south side) from the transept – blocks one of the large windows – only one aisle on each side the nave – east and an apse croisée – aisled round as usual – had the sacristan who shewed us the eglise souterraine – it goes all under the present church  - 15ft. French deep – 30 steps down – here we sat lying the lead of the roof [?] into sand, [cross] footing like white gritty sand in 2 great heaps – very handsome church but not to be compared with Reims – great many workmen getting up and fixing the new iron charpente stood some minutes by 2 workmen in one of the west towers getting up 2 great stone pulled by a windless worked at the top – could not imagine the use of a pile of common red hollow pot cylinders about 14 or 16 or 18? in. long? the closing on one end being like a thin square plate about 1in. thick to arch with a new plan from Paris – foe fear of common stone work being too heavy – the interstices to be filled up with plâtre – Inquire about this in Paris – dinner at 7 5 – sat leaning sometime on the bed ½ asleep – had Josephine – at 8 ½ - rainy day till about 5 pm afterwards pretty fine

[bertrumstrousers]

Many nights of yammering in my server gave rise to

Bad Things Happen On A Train

Written by me and edited by @haunted-hijinxer!!

—

“That’s noble of you.”

Bertrum squinted at Nathan from across the table as he sipped his coffee. It was hot and sour; he knew well that Nathan had poured him a cup just to watch him grimace at the taste. “This is not about being noble, Nathan. This is ab—“

Nathan wagged his finger at him. “Ah-ah. Remember what I said.”

“Mr. Arch.” His voice was far more bitter than the coffee at this point. “This isn’t about being noble. This is about treating Sammy properly.”

Nathan was quick to refill Bertrum’s mug as soon as his cousin had emptied it. He sighed. “Sammy would do well to show respect to his ringmaster. If he can’t do that, what makes you think he’d give respect to my show, much less conduct its score? I say we move him from the bandstand to somewh—“

Bertrum cut him off. “He’s not going anywhere, Mr. Arch. Sammy is a talented musician—don’t take that away from him.” He coughed lightly to clear the aftertaste of the coffee sticking in his throat. “I already know what you want to do. You’d like him thrown someplace where the crowds can gawk at him. It’s disgusting.”

Nathan waved away Bertrum’s accusation as though it were an annoying fly. “Your perspective is helpful, but I’ve made up my mind.”

Something burned in Bertrum’s chest as he angrily gripped onto his pant leg under the table, out of Nathan’s sight. He refused to show Nathan he was upset. “Perspective?” Bertrum’s voice stayed calm.

“Yes.” The smaller man stood up. “You being an act yourself gives y—“

“Don’t you dare, Mr. Arch.” The hair at the base of Bertrum’s neck bristled as he snarled.

Nathan shrank at this. “T-temper, Bertrum, temper.” He stepped back as his cousin also stood from his own chair. The giant’s shadow now blanketed him, and he suddenly felt far, far smaller.

To his relief, Bertrum had no interest in arguing with him. “Mr. Arch, you’re going to need to excuse me. I can tell I’m getting nowhere with you.” He swilled down the last of the coffee—Nathan had refilled his mug so many times that he’d lost count of how many cups he’d actually had. However many it was, it was enough to make his heart race and his stomach ache. ‘There’s no way I’m sleeping tonight.’ was the jittery thought that crossed his mind. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”

As the door slid open, Nathan decided it was an appropriate time to hit Bertrum with a snide, “Try not to bump your head on the doorframe on your way out, little cousin.”

Lacie couldn’t help but speak up upon noticing Bertrum’s foul mood. “…you all right, big guy?”

“I’ve been better.” Bertrum growled. “I tried talking sense into Nathan.” He poured himself a cold cup of tea as he thanked his past self for not pouring out that afternoon’s leftovers.

“That explains a lot.” She winced. “About Sammy? I know the poor guy’s been in Nathan’s crosshairs lately and I don’t know why.”

With the coffee taste now washed down, Bertrum continued. “You know Sammy—he’s a talented man but can be a little difficult at times. But Nathan’s overreacting—he’s pressing me to remove him from the conductor position over a simple disagreement.”

“That’s idiotic.”

“Extremely.” He sighed as he set the cup down before joining Lacie in bed. “Now, that wouldn’t be an issue had he not…” The comments Nathan made regarding himself and the musician came rushing back. “…demeaned me!” He briskly flung his half of the comforter over himself.

“Hey.” Lacie took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Settle down now. You can deal with the shithead tomorrow.”

Watching the scenery go by under the dim moonlight as the train rumbled was normally plenty to lull him to sleep, but not tonight. Bertrum’s heart still raced from his confrontation with his cousin, and the caffeine certainly wasn’t helping.

He originally mistook the faint yelling from two cars away as Lacie’s sleeptalking until he registered the voice was male.

Male and definitely held Nathan’s cadence.

With his hands in his pockets, Sammy went about a short walk. The observation car was far from his bunk, however that distance suited him fine. The march cleared his head regardless.

The night was clear and mild, the type of weather where a sweater was just barely too warm. His standard shirt, suspenders and slacks were plenty. The only article of clothing that differed were his shoes, which he had exchanged for slippers. Narrow hallways beside his sleeping fellow performers’ bunks would have carried the sound of his loafers too far, though by now, he was far enough away from them.

A loose floorboard under his steps creaked as he crossed it.

Then it creaked again.

That second step didn’t belong to him.

“Sammy.” It was the ringmaster’s voice. Nathan always spoke with a firm and reasonable veneer papering over snide self-satisfaction. Sammy would be just as happy to never hear that voice again.

He pretended not to hear it now. Sammy continued on his way; nothing good could come from a greeting like that.

“Sammy,” Nathan called out again, and then more sharply, “Lawrence!”

They were well away from the bunks now. The storage cars, loaded with neat piles of tent poles, came next. The rattling from them as well as the train’s undercarriage nearly drowned out his irritated grunt in reply.

It was too much to hope Nathan would save whatever lambasting he’d decided Sammy deserved for a decent hour. ‘I can’t even take a walk in the middle of the night without having to deal with this? If you don’t like me, there’s a much easier solution if you’d just take the damn hint.’ Sammy tried not to mouth the thought.

“SAMMY!” Nathan barked, as he darted past him to plant himself directly in the man’s path.

Sammy came to a stop, but still only answered with a glare. ‘Get out of my way.’ He tried to force the thought into Nathan’s head.

“I’m talking to you!” Nathan snapped, raising an arm to gesture in the darkness of the car. “Didn’t you hear me?!”

Enough was enough.

“I heard you!!” Sammy snapped right back. “It’s hard not to hear you—you’re an announcer.”

Nathan almost seemed shocked at the response, as though he’d expected Sammy to simply give him some sheepish acknowledgement after all that.

“Ah… I…! I am your ringmaster!” Nathan sputtered, waving a finger directly in Sammy’s face. “And you’d do well to start showing me a little more respect, if you know what’s good for you. Imagine, being so horribly rude to your superior! Now that I finally have your attention..!”

Though easily missed in the dark, Nathan’s face had begun to redden. ‘Good, we both hate this conversation, maybe we could hurry up and get it over with sooner.’ Sammy kept his gaze locked on the ringmaster. “Let’s hear it.”

Nathan huffed a breath, as though pretending he was still calm and reasonable, but Sammy knew he was neither. “I’m pretty upset with you. Your surly attitude is off-putting and it needs to stop.”

Sammy tilted his head, unimpressed. “…Is that it?”

Nathan’s lips curled into a snarl. “You’re proving my point right now, Sammy. Again. You’re like this to everyone. To me, to your fellow attractions, even to Piedmont. You need to lighten up! Do you hear me?!”

The musician had enough.

“OF COURSE I DO! I just said, your whole purpose is to be heard! And right now…” His hands flew out of his pockets to slice through the air between them and his voice lowered to a near growl. “..I’ve heard enough. You take care of your job, and I’ll take care of mine, my way. Are we done here?”

Nathan’s hands tensed into half-formed fists. “Why, you... do you realize, I could have you thrown out of this circus?!”

Sammy scoffed at the absurdity. ‘Do you take me for an idiot?’ He knew full well he would never be wanted anywhere for his winning personality. That had never been what he contributed here. “Your circus needs music, Nathan,” he said flatly. “Even if you replaced my act, you’d never find anyone else to compose for your entire show that did half as good for twice the pay. Back the hell off, stop wasting my time, and let me do. My. Job.” Sammy’s face was stone as he stared the shocked man down, hoping this time Nathan would finally stop. Finally would realize Sammy valued himself enough not to buy into Nathan’s petty ego-feeding.

It was only when Nathan’s fist slammed into the adjacent sliding door, boxing him in, that Sammy realized he might have miscalculated.

“You still don’t believe me?” Nathan hissed. His hand clamped onto the side of the door. “Even now you don’t take me seriously, do you…?” His outraged expression had switched to something disconcertingly cold. “But you will. I’ll make you believe me, Lawrence.”

In that moment, Sammy knew with absolute certainty that he was in trouble. He made to duck around Nathan and flat out run, only for Nathan’s hand to lash out and yank him off balance by the front of his suspenders and slamming him back into the side of the train. He was scrambling to his feet, arm raised defensively, when he caught the first creaks of a sound that stopped his heart in his chest… the groaning of metal from the door behind him.

With a loud grunt, Nathan yanked the sliding door fully open, allowing a chilling blast of wind to tear through the car as the train roared down the tracks. Sammy was suddenly teetering with nothing but open air and roaring noise at his back, Nathan’s fist still gripping him by the suspenders. The moonlight flashed harsh shadows over Nathan’s twisted expression of glee. Passing trees made the light on his face flicker like a dreadful film.

Sammy scrabbled for a grip, but he couldn’t get a grip..!

“And I think you’ll find, Sammy…” Nathan snarled over the wind, “That I’d have no problem at all throwing you out! Why, I could be rid of you right here and now, and who would miss you? Who would stop me?”

Sammy’s resolve finally broke as a single whimper escaped him. His thoughts raced. His heart pounded. ‘This is it. I am going to be thrown off a train from some grandstanding lunatic who—‘

Behind the ringmaster, the door to the adjacent cars rattled, more than it should on a moving train.

Nathan turned to look as Sammy desperately tried to catch his footing, mind washed blank with panic to the point he hardly registered the meaning behind the noise…

Until whatever was behind that door split it completely from its hinges in one firm strike.

Any panic Bertrum had from the whimper he’d heard quickly boiled into rage when his cousin came into focus, standing over a cowering Sammy. Nathan barely had time to turn around before he felt Bertrum’s crushing grip on his shoulder and side. Pain shot down his arms. His grip on Sammy was torn apart as the larger man hoisted him into the air. “Bertrum! C-calm down, I was just trying to make a poi—“

“I WILL NOT HAVE A MURDERER IN MY FAMILY!”

Bertrum drew in the air all the motions necessary to ram Nathan into the side wall of the car.

The side wall with the open door.

From his position on the floor, it became horribly obvious what was about to happen. Sammy stuttered out a warning. “The door…!”

He said it too late.

[dirtharaxma]

11 and 20 for both Thren and Dacien

In-Depth Relationship Asks

11.  Who do you believe is the dominant one in your relationship? Why?

Dacien: “As little as one might expect it; Harlan is- for all. either of us really are. They are because I'm more submissive. For better or worse.”

Thren: “If you mean violent? that’s me. Dangerous? probably Darcy ‘cause they have the distance. Sexually? ....Dunno. Suppose I'm the one who initiates but that don’t mean I always....uh....” turns faintly red. clears his throat. “Tie, then, probably.”

20.  Was there anything you worried about the first time you were about to have sex with your partner?

Dacien: “We don’t........ have sex, really. We’ve... we’ve tried.” Alternately “I was baffled that we hadn’t before. That they were even interested. They actually know me. I always thought- well. My looks are all I have going for me and even those are subpar.”

Thren: “Was thinking ‘Fuck, why haven’t we tried this before’. Or something about their tits. Don’t remember, really. Was quite distracted.”

[taegris]

I’m gonna be honest I’m straight up not having a good time right now lol! I’m so incredibly stressed and I’m so behind in my classes and I feel guilty for not writing for so long. I miss it guys, and I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I promise you in a few weeks that I’ll have a schedule and start posting again. ❤️ thank you for being patient and kind, always.

[haunted-hijinxer]

A Discussion of Henry's No Good Very Bad Loop(CoC AO3 Update)

[ BatIM Call of Cthulhu Masterpost ] Henry:@inkcryptid GM: @haunted-hijinxer

A Discussion of Henry's No Good Very Bad Loop

With the latest crisis with the Muses and the Cult of the Yellow King finally ended, the JDS boys still have a feature to finish! But Henry finds himself haunted by that final confrontation in the cult base, the one he can hardly remember, save for a few alarming flashes and the bone deep feeling that he did something horrible... Maybe Bendy would know more.

[inkdemonapologist]

[BatIM Cthulhu AU] A couple of doodles from session two, which UNSETTLED SAMMY A LOT ACTUALLY...

There have been small changes, throughout New York -- doors opening on the wrong side of the street, houses ending up just a block away from where you remembered them -- but the only people who can even tell seem to be those who remember Carcosa. Joey, Sammy, Henry, Jack, Peter, and Norman all experienced the strange shifting realm when a Mardi Gras party attempted to bring dread Carcosa to New Orleans, but Susie wasn't there. She can't see the changes we see, and the entire rest of the city agrees with her. That door was always there? The car was always that colour. That's where I remember the address being before, and there's no record it was ever different.

She trusts what the boys are reporting must be true, that maybe there are changes she can't see or remember, and both she and Sammy are terrified. These are only little things, but as more and more of the city slips into the world of the King in Yellow, what else might be rewritten...?

Anyway EVERYONE'S HAVING A GREAT TIME. If you're here for Out Of Context Quotes from our session, I have some of those too, here, under the cut!!

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[Jack] I love how detective Pete is for a guy who is NOT a detective. [Sammy] He just got assigned that by Joey Drew and now it's true. [Joey] Exactly! That's how it works.

[Sammy] The idea of JDS having its own employed detective is really funny to me. "Why do you need that? You're an animation studio." "Well, you know, things come up,"

[GM] Everybody went home I believe, except Joey went to the Studio, which is like home,

[Sammy] Do we have any plan, other than just go in to work, [Jack] I though you were gonna say "other than go insane"...

[Joey] If Prophet's not the one going for the ink, then why is Sammy going for it?! Do they have a SECOND prophet situation??? [Jack] PROPHET...... TWO!!! [Henry] Prophet 2: Electric Boogaloo [Sammy] *tiredly* We don't need any more Prophets..... We don't need any more Sammys..... we have enough.....

[Jack] You just need to sip some ink and tell them it's the wrong number. Like, you've got the wrong guy. [Henry] New stone, who dis?

[Sammy] It was the false king who called through the ink, not our Lord! [Joey] Interesting... [Joey] Joey's going to ask Bendy if he can... feel this? Is he getting calls? *dad voice* Is someone calling you? Don't put your number on the internet!

[GM] Bendy says he wasn't made to be a receiver the same way Sammy was. [Jack] So technically, it's "New Sam, who dis"!

[Joey] Okay, Joey's going to note this all down in his... Notebook Of Nonsense That Plagues Them,

[GM] I'm choosing to believe that whenever Norman called in, he gave some sort of outlandish excuse, and whoever answered the phone didn't... write it down... [Sammy] Like the heckin', grian excuses-- [Joey] "I'm cutting my grass, with scissors" [Jack] Yeah!! He's cutting his grass! With scissors! In winter!!! [Sammy] And then Sammy's like "Do we know why he called out?" and the receptionist is just like "No We Have NO Idea" [Jack] With the most tired sigh. Second only to Grant.

[GM] Fun fact, Norman would answer the phone. [Sammy] Norman actually was just like, "ohhhhhhh i know THIS is some supernatural bullshit happening, I'm gonna stay home"

[Joey] Joey's going to ask Estelle if he looked like-- and give a vague description of Avedon. [GM] .............................. [GM] She is SO impressed that you knew this. [Joey] *delighted cackling*

[Jack] I love how cute Joey is about this kid. Just like... the cool Bendy Uncle! He's not related at all, but, [Joey] I feel like this is kind of how Joey just gets around kids? Maybe Joey does really want kids, just, y'know, doesn't know how to do it when gay? [Sammy] Obviously that won't happen, so-- [Joey] Yeah, [Sammy] --so then you START AN ANIMATION STUDIO, that's the only other option! [GM] Yeah, then all kids are your kids!

[GM] Alright, you've made many phone calls. [Joey] Yeah, [GM] And you only rudely hung up on one of them!

[Sammy] Sammy can surely track that down; he's used to digging up musicians. [Jack] Jack's there to assist with the Talking to People in a way that makes them want to cooperate with you, and not run in fear!

[GM, speaking for Peter] *lists all of the information Peter's dug up* And that's about what he managed to get, today! [Joey] And nothing weird has been happening... to him? [GM] WELL, OKAY. ABOUT THAT,

[Peter] Could you describe again, the strange person who was at the party? What was that guy like? [Joey] *thinking very hard* Which... strange person...? I mean... Denis was there?

[Norman] Try not to fall in a swamp this time. [Joey] I'll let you know if I find one! [Sammy] There's fewer of those in New York, so, I think we're good. [Jack] I mean, you never know,, [Sammy] ...yeah, that's true..... [Joey] HEY, Joey will let him know if he finds one!!! [Sammy] If LAKE PONCHARTRAIN opens up in the MIDDLE OF NEW YORK CITY, that will certainly be something to let all of our friends know!

[GM] Make a social-type checks to have a word with them beforehand! [Sammy] I don't know, if I should do that,,, [GM] SAMMY can make an Appearance check! [Sammy] *laughing* LETS SEE IF IM HANDSOME ENOUGH to get let in!

[GM] Everybody's like "You guys!" You're greeted with nostalgia, and eagerness! and people are trying to small talk you, I'm guessing Sammy's not going for that. [Sammy] I mean, you can try to small talk.... AT him... [Sammy] He doesn't... y'know... it's like playing a game of catch where you throw the ball to somebody, and they just hold the ball. [Sammy] Like.... okay! [GM] I did the thing! [Sammy] Cool, catch successful. [Jack] No give, only throw!

[Sammy] Look, I was trying to drink ink this morning, so I feel like this is a step up.

[Sammy] Sammy will enjoy it! We should do this more often! [Sammy] "We should do this more often" says man who will always be too busy to do this more often,

[GM] They're impressed that, at a job where there was a gunshot right in front of the stage, the thing you want to ask about is where they sourced their music. [Sammy] I LOVE that Sammy's reputation is such that this makes perfect sense to them.

[GM] His name is Alan Leroy. [Sammy] Okay, Leroy works, because then I'll remember it, because of Leroy Jenkins. [GM] This is what's been going through my head the entire time, too...

[GM] They say he's a crazy-talented musician who blew into town a year or two ago? He's really nice and easy to get along with, and when he really gets going he can make sounds come out of his instrument like you've never heard! [Sammy] These... are all.. compliments that would be really impressive except that they can all be interpreted in really concerning ways.......

[GM] If Jack wants to look harder, he can.......... [Jack] I'm doing it, Jack can make little a bad decision! He hasn't made any yet this season!! [Jack] *rolls* That's an extreme success. How much sanity do I lose!!

[Henry] We're ghost hunters. The, the pale guy is a ghost, we're goin' after him. Ghost hunters. [Henry] ...This is why you don't let Henry lead the conversation!!

[Jack] It's occurring to me that we don't know if this guy is alive??? [Joey] YUP! This is a good time to find out! [Henry] Fun! [GM] When have you EVER gone up to somebody's house and found them dead inside? [Jack] Jack hasn't yet... [Henry] The very first scenario! [Sammy] Yeah it was a pretty bad situation as I recall, we were briefly accused of being involved! [Jack] Maybe you guys. Jack's different, though.

[Joey] We wanted to make sure he was doing alright. .....does that need a Fast Talk roll? [GM] Yeah, I was about to say-- [Joey] *rolls* *STARTS CACKLING* [GM] What did you do, do you roll a three again? [Joey] I DID ROLL A THREE! :D THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I ROLLED! [GM] I thought it was the Three Laugh!

[Henry] Henry is tired. Henry rolled a 93. [GM] Well he's out late, you know, he's a family man! He has normal hours, he hasn't been staying up late, living at the studio for the last few years! [Henry] He's regretting not accepting Joey's offer to just go home. [Joey] *muttering* See, Joey knows best!

[GM] Okay, so you guys notice, right off, that the car isn't there. [Sammy] UM. HM. [Jack] Which car did we take again? [Joey] The Mercedes... [Jack] *relieved* Okay good. [Jack] .... I MEAN, NOT GOOD, BUT...

[Joey] No, no I think it's OUR car... it's just... more yellow now... [Jack] I don't like that that means it's getting yellower... [Joey] ...........................So when do we take the sanity hit? [GM] Yeah, that would be now!

[GM] The woman says she's looking forward to when he has his own ship, and they can sail away together! [Henry] [Henry] ...I'm married,...

[Joey] Joey has his face pressed to the window-- no, he probably has the window down, it doesn't matter how cold it is -- and... CAN the window go down? Hold on. [Joey] *sounds of typing* "Car... door... window... down... history... when."

[Henry] Okay, these dice are BANNED. I rolled a 90! [Jack] What if you subtly replace the dice...? [Sammy] With slighty yellower dice!

[Joey] OKAY! There ARE rolling windows, so Joey does have the window rolled down, and he's intensely watching the colour of the car. [Joey] AND ALSO, he's STILL sitting in the middle seat, he's just going to lean over someone to do this. [Sammy] Ah. It's probably me.

[Jack] No, no, Pete and Jack can get kidnapped later and take some massive sanity damage together. ✨Cute date ideas!✨

[Joey] Joey's going to inform Norman that they're going to come over, they need additional eyes on something, [GM] Well, he's good at keeping eyes on things! [Joey] So they'll be over soon. [Sammy] I like how Norman gets a heads up, but with Peter we just show up at his apartment. [Joey] Exactly! [Jack] That's because Joey's kissed Pete. When Joey and Norman kiss then that's -- not good for Sammy, probably. [GM] At least Pete and Sammy are neutral. Non-reactive. [Sammy] Norman and Sammy are "it's complicated" on Facebook.

[Sammy] Okay, we gotta go get Linda, so Susie's not alone, [Jack] We're just playing "how many NPCs can we force Thren to play at once!" How many can we shove in the back of this car.

[Jack] Jack's gonna get home and find out his cats are different colours, [Sammy] Oh NO, [Jack] Comes back and Beans is a tortie now. [Sammy] Or Beans is just an orange cat, [Jack] Oh no! Her braincells! [GM] She needs those! She has all of them!!

[Joey] Depending on who's the affected party, Susie or them, it is actually useful to have a second, like, [Sammy] Someone to compare with? Yeah. [Henry] We don't know WHO the control group is, but ONE of us is the control group!

[Joey] As trusted as Norman is, he isn't one of Joey's... white-knuckle-clutched-keepsakes of a person,

[Sammy] *sarcastic* Okay, everyone ready to go to sleep? That's not a scary prospect right now, right? That's something that we're all really confident about doing? Cool, that's great. [Henry] Yeah, yeah, that's definitely not gonna, it's gonna go great...! [GM] Nobody's even cut their hand on a slick stone! It's fine! [Henry] NO ONE BETTER CUT THEIR HAND ON A SLICK STONE! We got enough problems!! [Joey] (Looking at you, Prophet!)

[Henry] Is Joey,,, sharing this plan with anyone? [Joey] ouo Has anyone asked him?

[Joey] Let's send Henry then! [Henry] Alright. Send Henry to Carcosa! [Sammy] *exasperated* yeah that's fine.... [Joey] It's not FULLY sending him there! It's just making a connection. [Joey] A little bridge! [Sammy] Uggghhhh... Sammy doesn't think we need any bridges to Carcosa. [Sammy] We've got enough Carcosa. [Sammy] Put some back.

[Sammy] This is what happens When You Give a Joey a Dream Spell.

[Sammy] We can't actually guarantee that New York isn't going to sink. That's not out of the question. [Jack] Is the Joey Drew specialty NOT "promising things that aren't necessarily things you can promise??"

[Henry] Actually, before Henry leaves he's going to give Joey a hug. [Joey] He doesn't get to leave. [Henry] Oh. [Joey] But Joey will take the hug!

[Henry] You know this man gives good hugs. You're getting a good Henry hug. [Jack] Gonna crunch all of Joey's terrible, very bad bones. [Henry] He's gonnna try not to crunch all of Joey's terrible bones! [Henry] But, I dunno. [Henry] Roll for damage.

[GM] The lurker knows this is serious, but he's also excited, because he has heard what a slumber party is from Henry's kids.

[GM] Now it is Friday, the 28th of December. [Sammy] Okay. Cool. Let's all make an effort to not ring in the New Year in Carcosa. That's MY New Year's Resolution: Don't Be In Carcosa.

[ofxelvhen]

Headcanon | Thren [ After Wicked Eyes, as Inquisitor, Thren starts to notably relax. From the beginning he’s always relaxed to a degree with Darcy and/or Bull and the Chargers but after WEWH, this gets far more general. His temper is still short and very present but he gets less and less violent as time goes on. Humans can endear themselves to him but it’s still a hard process and they’re still held responsible, in his mind, for everything humans have collectively done to his people. He’s softer around the edges, quieter, spends even more time with and around Darcy in part bc they’re comfort to him and in part because he was this soft with them first and he trusts them to back him up on protecting it need be.

He’s still very much Thren, he’s still angry, still easily frustrated, but a lot of the weight from Halamshiral eases from his shoulders. The ghosts remain, but he’s no longer carrying the boulder of guilt upon his shoulders. He feels like the solution wasn’t perfect, but the outcome on the Orlesian throne was the best option he had and he feels good enough about it. ]

[gems-of-lirema]

"Your birthday love!!!" Here is the husband pulling him into a kiss, as he held out the box with a gift for him. This time it was an extremely soft and squishy jumpluff plushie. "Happy birthday my love..."

💜 Wait...that’s today?

No, it can’t be today.

He hadn’t celebrated his birthday since he was eight. And he intended it to stay that way. Looks like he forgot to tell him how much he dreaded this. The visceral fear behind it all, would only be masked by a fake smile. So small yet so very, very forced. He takes the box and simply...sets it aside. He doesn’t even look at it. He just tries to change the subject.

“Gee, Mort. You’re pretty lovey-dovey today. A little more so than usual. Did you get a promotion or something? Or did one of your Gastlies learned their first word?”

[inkyvendingmachine]

PANIC! At the Cult Mob Talent Contest Season 3, Episodes 11

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 🎶 Call of Cthulhu Season Three Masterpost 🎶

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of Call of Cthulhu: Song and Dance scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO @bertrumstrousers​ WHO APPARENTLY HELPED THREN BY BRAINSTORMING AND PROVIDING SOME OF THE POSSIBLE CONTENT SHE COULD USE FOR BETRUM SHOWING UP IN THE GAME?!?! including some signature words he yells at one point, which still delights me to this day.

ART CHANGES THIS SEASON!! @inkdemonapologist and I are collabing on all the art for these summery posts!! Shazz does lines, and I compose and colour the pieces.

Joey has since had a few rooms of his own secretly installed throughout the building as Thomas has been replacing pipes. He says they’re to have a quiet space where he can be uninterrupted, a lot of them using old abandoned rooms that had become storage for outdated materials. The project was started after the New Orleans Trip though, so it’s more likely… so he can have somewhere hidden to rest.

Hahaha yeah no it’s so he has privacy for like normal Joey extra hard working hours hahahahaha anyways this is where Joey and Sammy end up talking with Prophet, along with Bendy. Sammy has his own questions he writes down on a piece of paper for Prophet to answer on, and Joey silently waits in the background to ask his own questions afterwards. 

His own questions being… how to stop himself from going mad like last time. He doesn’t want to betray Prophet again, but it’s Prophet’s sort of realms that does this to him. So… what to do to stop it? Bendy also has a question about one of the things from Prophet’s last vision, a strangely mundane demonic monster that Sammy’d described, and Prophet does his best to draw it for them.

Meanwhile, Jack ends up checking on the music department. After being asked by Sammy to keep an eye on Jack, Norman follows him around as well. Henry ends up coming in a little late after spending the morning going over a few more things with Linda in preparation, checking on his own department before all of them meet up in the afternoon and go over final plans. While Prophet and Sammy managed to figure out that the cultists’ plan is to put Angels (like those monsters they fought in NOLA) into Susie, Colette, and Nichole, and corrupt the muses possessing them with the Yellow King, they still don’t exactly know how that’s happening, or when, or what Y and his men are going to try to do themselves to get to this goal.

So! Our goal is actually very simple: Find the girls and get them out of there before the mob can execute their plan. Just be heckin better at kidnapping some ladies out of a public place than a whole buncha mobsters! 

No Problem!!! 

This will surely go… fine!

More specifically, we’re gonna grab the girls, head IMMEDIATELY to the apartment where the circle is already existing with a lot of the supplies needed to finish it, and expel the muses before the goons ever figure out what’s going on.

... from a venue that only a few of us have snuck around in so far and hardly know the layout of.

... during a contest that we have no connections to but the mob clearly does.

Okay, so maybe we need a little more of a plan, just in case we get separated at the start. Sammy and Norman know Susie the mostest, so if we can’t figure out another way to get Sammy back there, those two can just brute force and sneak their way back there, respectively. If Peter can get in the back as Press, bonus. Henry and Jack will secure an exit and be ready to drive if we manage to find any of the girls, just get them out as quickly as possible. And Joey has called upon Leon (Colette’s boyfriend, the nervous doctor guy), Allison, and Timothee (brother of Nichole and gun enthusiast) to get their help; the four of them will run a middle man between the two groups and help with the transfer of any of the girls out of the building.

AND! THAT’S ABOUT ALL THE PLANNING WE CAN DO!! CROSS UR FINGERS AND REMEMBER THAT PROBABLY MOST OF THE MAFIA IS MADE OUT OF WEIRD YELLOW INK SO WE CAN’T JUST TREAT EM LIKE REGULAR HUMANS IF WE GET INTO A CONFRONTATION OKAY EVERYONE IN THE CARS LET’S GO.

Sammy brings up that any performance by one of the muses might get them wrapped up in their current creative addictions, just like how he lost himself the other night and Norman lost hours to dancing before when he met the girls–

THEN DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN OKAY EVERYONE IN THE CARS L E T ‘ S G O.

They arrive at the contest about an hour before it starts, making sure to come in with the crowds and have the vehicles parked far enough away from the entrance they’re not immediately recognized, but with easy road access for getting away once they gotta.

Joey and Bendy and Sammy immediately get distracted looking at Coney Island as they go in, all three of them rather wishing to be there instead of at a stuffy contest. Luckily, Jack and Henry are paying enough attention to point out the signup situation as well as the security situation.

As well as the… familiar band situation. Oh look, they replaced that one dude already. Wouldn’t be a band without a saxophone player after all. 

Sammy and Joey go to see if Susie is already here or not by trying to spy on the sign up lists instead of asking like normal people do until Sammy gets caught trying to spy because he’s terrible at being sneaky. Nobody named Susie Campbell is signed up… but Joey notices there’s a line on the list that just says “Alice.”

So she is here.

Well, time to start looking then. The plan is altered slightly as we meet up with the others: Norman tries to sneak in the back as a staff member, ends up fumbling on identifying what band member he’s supposed to be by the instrument case he’s carrying (which actually has a gun in it,) but Peter gets the security caught up in checking his press pass and Norman slips through.

As a second wave sneaking back, Leon and Sammy sign up as a music/singing duo (doesn’t matter if Leon can sing or not, we’re planning on not letting performances start on that stage at all if possible.) This is because nobody else actually can easily identify Colette, and on top of that, nobody else knows what to possibly say to her to get her to agree to come with them. 

Timothee and Henry end up posting up back, keeping an eye out on the floor, since they’re the most armed and ready to barge their way into a situation and change it. If something happens, they can intercept, and if we get the girls to them, they can protect. Also Henry has the Bendy Lapel Pin, so there’s a form of communication back to Joey (through Bendy) through that.

Which leaves Allison, Joey + Bendy, and Jack to play middle field; Most sociable, best for blending in, and they can run interference between the two groups if need be.

… SO BASICALLY EVERYTHING IS THE SAME EXCEPT WE SHUFFLED SOME PEOPLE AROUND;;

Sammy and Leon head backstage and start looking around. Sammy is both looking for Susie, but also looking for any magic, ink, changes to the building since he was last here. Hidden doors, weird walls… Nothing suspicious yet, but Peter confirms while passing by that Y is in one of the backrooms, the office with the guarded door. All the players are here.

Which includes,

THE GREAT BERTRUM PIEDMONT

That’s right, BERTRUM IS HERE!!!!!! The contest flyer advertised a famous guest judge for the contest and ITS HIM, GREAT APPRECIATOR OF THE ARTS BERTRUM PIEDMONT,

who is, currently talking very loudly,,, to anyone that will listen to him,,,,,, over near the buffet. About the contest that they’re already at and how great it is, but also about his picks for the hors d'oeuvres and how great those are too.

 Because he is great.

Everyone continues to hold their positions, all looking for the girls. As the room gets more filled and it gets closer to time, Bertrum disappears into the back, and the search becomes a bit more desperate as we try to beat out the mob in this race of sorts. 

But then! Sammy does end up spotting three girls, one of them is absolutely Susie!! Sammy grabs Leon and immediately runs over to catch up with them before they head out onto the floor and disappear into the crowd.

Sammy grabs her arm, and it takes her a few blinks before she goes from simply politely smiling at him, to a recognizable expression. She asks why he’s here instead of at the studio getting ready for the premiere and, gosh, Sorry! Was gonna swing by but then got caught up in–

Doesn’t matter! Sammy starts trying to drag her out with him, insisting that it’s dangerous if she performs here and they need to go right now.

Nicole obviously notices and cuts him off while Leon tries to talk to his girlfriend as well. This gets Sammy rambling for a moment, insisting they all get out of here before the the cult of the Yellow–

Aaaaaaand Peter thankfully steps in very quickly to stop this before the guards start focusing too hard on what’s happening in this corner. Susie is looking a bit shaken, but Nicole steps in and alleviates all their fears. Of course it’s not a cult, why would a cult be having a talent contest. And they can’t just sacrifice someone on stage or whatever publicly like this. That’d be ridiculous. 

And… Sammy nods. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. They can’t snatch them off stage… and if this is the one finally thing the girls need to do before they go with them, okay, fine. Just come back here right after! Or find Joey! One last performance and that’s it!

And he lets them go. 

Susie promises she understands and will find Sammy right after and not go off with anyone else, giving him a kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the floods of people on the floor. Sammy… feels weird. Not just because of how convincing Nicole was, but this doesn’t seem exactly like what he slammed into the other night while trying to reach out with the dream spell. And it doesn’t seem quite like Susie either…

Sammy tells Peter to let the rest of them know of the new plan; let the girls get their last performance in, then go. Because this is a very smart and good decision he made using all of his brain cell. Peter does just that.

(.......remember how Joey’s ability to fast talk people has been SUPERNATURALLY BOOSTED by one of the muses…… tHAT MIGHT BE…. THE ONE NICHOLE HAS……)

But while he’s making his way through the crowds, Joey spots Susie coming down from the back and starts heading towards her to try and convince her himself, since clearly Sammy didn’t manage to catch her in the back. The sooner he can get her to Henry and Timothee, the sooner he can go check on Sammy and make sure he didn’t get kidnapped or something again. 

Though first he tells Allison to maybe not approach Susie unless absolutely necessary. Or be seen by her. Because she is maybe not on the friends list right now and will make this more difficult. Allison simply nods and makes herself scarce.

Joey manages to use his dancing skills to weave through the crowd and get dancing with Susie, who is still surrounded by Nicole and Colette as well. She tries to inform him about the plan she made with Sammy and that everything is fine, which of course he’s having none of. So, he pulls her into a dance to help sell the very touching speech he’s going to deliver, about how he knows what’s going on, and he knows what she’s done, but he can’t let this happen at the risk of losing his Alice Angel.

Susie tears up a bit, because she wasn’t quite sure of herself recently. But before the hook manages to catch, Nicole steps in, frustrated with why everyone keeps trying to ruin their fun, just let them have one last evening together before they can’t anymore JEEZE (we’re gonna ignore the fact this has been going on for a week but ok)

She wants a bang to go out on? Alright!! Then Joey can give her a way better performance opportunity than this. He has a whole theater lined up this weekend, filled with big names in the entertainment industry, people who worked with singers and dancers for movie productions all over New York to see his feature film. If they go with him right now, he will make sure to give them a stage far larger than this one, but if they go through with this silly contest tonight, they might never do anything together again because of the men hunting them right now. Which, by the way? Bertie back there may have done amazing work for Coney Island and be a fancy name, but apparently he is only here for the friggin tiny sausages. Meanwhile, Joey will make the entire stage theirs. 

Speaking of.

The lights go down. The stage lights up, and from the curtains emerges

The Great Bertrum Piedmont

And starts on his long rambles of introducing himself and getting the crowd’s energy up all on their adoration of him. Of course. He actually hasn’t picked up the mic yet he’s just that loud and attention grabbing that the entire room kinda simmered down. Peter whispers that he’s heard this guy is a pain to try to stop interviewing. JOEY WILL REMEMBER THIS…

While this is happening and Joey has been going back and forth with Nicole, Susie manages to disappear on him and head towards the line up of contestants as Bertrum gets the singing contest started.

And… also starts picking off contestants. Quite quickly. Apparently he’s not only picky about the hors d'oeuvres, but also music? Hardly letting a lot of them get their songs started even before interrupting them.

And Alice is a name that isn’t far down the list.

Joey frantically starts waving everyone from where they are and pointing towards the girls, just trying to get them to do SOMETHING to stop all of this. They CAN’T LET THEM PERFORM. Sammy is still waiting backstage, since, uh, the plan was to let them sing and whatever anyways; but Henry catches Joey’s frantic waving, and being fluent in Joey, heads over to try and convince Susie to come with him. Somehow. Henry meets her near where Jack is, and she starts trying to tell him as well of the “plan” Sammy agreed to as he tries to usher her out. Knowing Sammy, WHO SPECIFICALLY WARNED EVERYONE NOT TO LET THEM PERFORM, Jack immediately sees that something went wrong, and heads towards the back stage to find him and make sure he’s okay since Sammy wouldn’t have just agreed to such a plan.

Susie’s grown more concerned by the boys’ determination, and Henry actually does manage to convince her and doesn’t need to opaquely grab and run, since for once, Nicole is not around. But Joey has lost sight of Colette now, and Nicole is still being stubborn, and something will clearly be up the moment the muse-infused girls don’t show up. SO IT MIGHT AS WELL BE UP NOW.

Joey leaps up on stage between singers during a long pause and grabs the mic, putting on his showman persona and pulls out a good ol’ “Well, while we’re waiting for that contestant to make it out to the floor, why don’t you tell us a bit more about yourself!”

Which works of course. He’s

The Great Bertrum Piedmont!

And he has SO MUCH to tell you all about himself.

While on stage, Joey notices four things.

The band is no longer hanging out in the bandstand. Okay, this was expected, and Joey is aware he will probably have goons on him very soon. Timothee has managed to find Nicole and is currently talking with her. Good. Henry is heading towards the exit with Susie. Good. Colette… is nowhere to be found. That one, iiiiiiisssssss,,, less than good….? Actually it’s very bad.

Joey disappears into the curtains as the first band-goon shows his face, starting to climb onto the front of the stage, letting Bertie continue on now that he has the initial nudge of momentum to start going. 

Which he does.

Jack manages to find Sammy in the back (after… probably lifting someone’s ticket,) and is immediately met with the very normal “What the Fuck is Joey Doing” response. It’s almost a secondary secret company slogan at this point. Jack asks him about this “New Plan” he’s apparently made, and as he gets talking about it Sammy slowly realizes… what he’s saying. Jack helps finish that nail off by reminding him of how bad the situation is going to be the moment any one of them performs.

Okay, yeah, Jack’s probably right. Let’s go get the girls out of here now. They run back out to the floor with Leon and start trying to find the girls. They manage to spot Susie and Nicole in the crowd, but before they can find Colette, Jack points out another one of the band goons is making his way towards Nicole. Since it looks like Henry has Susie heading towards the exit, OUR band boys decide to run interference. Also Peter. Leon heads out onto the dance floor to find his girlfriend and sorta disappears.

The one band goon heading towards Nicole tries to start with convincing them that he just needs to talk with Nicole backstage while trying to push his way through Jack, Sammy, Peter and Timothee who are all sort of getting in his way. So he also waves over some of the general security in the place to help out. Luckily, this all helps out Timothee’s case, and he convinces Nicole to go finally, so they manage to start pushing towards the exit after Henry and Susie while Jack, Peter and Sammy stall.

Joey, between the layers of curtains, uses a toon arm to reach up to the catwalk and zoop himself up there before the goons can find him, expecting them to come from both sides. This indeed confuses the goon, as he’s left scratching his head about where Joey possibly could have gone and starting to look behind the other curtains. Meanwhile Joey tries to sneak across to the opposite side of the catwalk so he can, hopefully, just disappear completely and leave them searching. Before jumping down, he looks out over the crowd to try and get an idea of the situation again, and sees the goons heading towards one of the back doors at the other end of the stage from him, with another person pushed between them all, in a very planned manner… Well, so much for sneaking down.

Now that two of the girls are near escaping and Sammy has become what he’s second best at, being a completely immovable and bothersome object the moment he’s pissed off, the goon decides to shake things up: He yells and fires off a gun, which immediately brings up a whole chorus of screaming as people start to panic, including 

The Great Bertrum Piedmont 

yelling BLOODY SCAMPER!!! and helping the panic be even more panic. The goon attempts to use the chaos to run after the girls, but despite initial shock of gun fire, Sammy immediately launches himself to stop him. He manages to stop him, but only because, perhaps, he is busy starting to turn one of his hands into some yellow claaaws? Yike,

While Sammy is freaking out a bit about the transformed hand, Jack catches the security guy who was waved over, and uses the new panic caused by the guy who was yelling right as a gunshot went off and is now getting into a fight with Sammy, to try and convince him that THIS GUY is actually the one causing a commotion and security needs to deal with him. Also uhh… his hand is. Weird. The goon starts trying to struggle and break out of Sammy’s grip while this is happening. Sammy manages to swing him around and punch him though, and the security guy finally sees the claws. So he uh, maybe takes some sanity damage from that, but also is now convinced that this band dude is absolutely the problem and starts working to remove him.

Or, try.

Henry manages to make it outside with Susie, while Timothee and Nicole are somewhat behind them but still making good time. But now the panic is causing a whole crowd of people to start moving towards the exit too and it’s about to get a lot harder to find each other and get out. Though once Susie is out of the building, Allison reveals herself near the entrance to the dance floor, standing on one of the tables and starting to calm people, using her powers to convince them they’d agreed to follow her out instead, and getting them out of the way. It doesn’t make the crowd less big, but people are moving out of the building quicker now, which will be good for when the rest need to run.

Joey has control of the spotlights, so he ends up grabbing one and turning it on the group of “band members” heading towards the back door, in an attempt to see better who they’re escorting, but also to blind them of what he’s doing above. Actually, he runs down the line and turns ALL the spotlights on them, assuming they probably have one of the girls just by the fact that Leon is STILL aimlessly wandering the dancefloor. And while they’re squinting at that, he goes and does what you’d do in any cartoon to stop a bad guy: throw a pulley break and drop a sandbag on him. Both Peter and 

T h e   G r e a t   B e r t r u m   P i e d m o n t

had noticed the spotlights turning, but one of them runs towards the shine while the other runs away into the backstage dressing rooms. 

I’m sure you can guess which one does what.

Sammy is still fighting with the band goon, who is quite intent on capturing him or something, which is terrifying, actually, but Sammy responds to fear by punching, while the goon tries to pin him down. Which, after some wide throws, Sammy manages to leave himself open enough that the goon guy grabs him around the center and throws him over his shoulder. Sammy of course is kicking and yelling. Jack is panicking and ends up just running towards him and trying to tackle the goon to do???!? ANYTHING TO GET SAMMY FREE? He doesn’t manage to build up enough strength to throw a snake this guy around and actually ends up being kicked back into a table. Leon rushes over now that the room is somewhat cleared out and he’s rather sure Colette is not around, and tries to help Jack up. The security guard finally decides enough is enough, pulls out his kNIFE?!?? And runs in to knife this… mONSTER?!?! While Sammy is still flailing around in his arms…

Joey looks down from the catwalk to chase after the group and notices that… the man under the sand bag… the liquid around him… is not yellow.

It’s red.

Oh no, that’s not– Joey takes a moment as he’s kicked in the head right out of cartoon world by the reality of this all. During that he does hear yelling in the back, specifically the loud voice of

The Great Bertrum Piedmont

complaining to SOMEONE about how they got him into this mess, they better bloody well get him out of it! He also manages to spot Peter who had run over. Good, anything else to think about besides the sandbag. He does the ladder slidey thing down, quickly informs Peter that the goons are still dragging someone to the back, and then immediately goes chasing after them, leaving Peter to take his own moment of “There’s a squished guy under a sand bag” sanity damage.

Joey slides into the hallway to see the back doors shoved open and a car speeding off, with all the goons and their captive in the back and, probably Bertie, in it. There’s a moment of trying to figure out if he can hecking chase down a car, when something else clicks.

He doesn’t need to chase down the car. He knows where they’re going.

That drawing from Prophet’s vision? 

It finally makes sense.

He knows of the demonic monster of Coney Island.

[Next Episode]

[Previous Episode]

[yrbutchgf]

hey, i'm feeling a bit insecure in my identity rn and i was wondering if you have any... tips, or anything like that. i'm a lesbian who feels more comfortable in a masc role, and i think i would identify as butch... but i feel like i'm too emotional. i cry SO often. my mental health has been less than stellar for the last 10 years or so lol, so that plays a part, but i'm also just a crier. things that make me cry: criticism, heated discussions, presentations, movie/game/book endings, all music with violins, some music without violins, christmas commercials, those miniature food clay charms... literally everything. and it's always in public too, which is embarrassing enough as it is. and i know that doesn't have to mean anything for my gender identity, but the whole "boys/men don't cry" thing kind of did a number on me lol. i always feel like a little girl when others watch me cry, even though i want to be the protector. sorry for rambling, but i feel like you always have good takes on butchness and stuff like that, so i was wondering if you have any tips on feeling more secure in my butch/masc side :)

ok before i say anything else, thank you, i’m honestly really flattered you think that highly of my takes lol <3 i do try my best, i’m glad i’m able to help people to whatever extent i do with my posts. also, bit of a length warning -- i always set out with the intention of writing succinct responses to asks, but it always gets away from me, and this time "getting away from me" meant "turning into a manifesto." well, oops. c'est la butch/femme.

now to start this answer off: i definitely relate. i’m also pretty emotional. when i get stressed i get really shaky, especially in my hands, and then after that my body turns on the waterworks. i also have a fairly exuberant personality in general, and i'm very expressive with my hands & body language. the only times i’ve ever really fit the stoic archetype have been on accident, usually when i’ve felt uncomfortable in a social situation and it’s come off as strong silence. at the same time, i also don’t like when people see me cry or be emotional in general, especially in public. it makes me feel vulnerable in a way that i don’t like to give most people, and the fact that i can’t fully control when or if i do is uncomfortable. and i think disliking that feeling is totally normal, or at the very least it’s a common boundary to have. regardless of sexuality, gender, or presentation, there’s a social urge to cover up when we’re feeling our feelings, but even beyond that there is, i think, a reflexive, self-preservation level urge to cover up what can be easily damaged. so to an extent, i think it’s natural to shy away from vulnerability.

at the same time, the urge to push down one’s tears is not necessarily a HEALTHY urge, only a COMMON one, because you’re right: emotionality has no bearing on your gender or what roles you can take up. some of my best butch and masc friends are also extremely emotional people, and they’re very open about it, and in a lot of ways that openness almost feels to me more masculine or more butch, because they’re embracing their feelings, and that’s obviously a really hard thing to learn to do, so it’s powerful, admirable, and also to be honest, it’s attractive! the ability of someone to be brave enough to be vulnerable can in many situations make the people around them feel more at ease, and i think it can become a very steady, very stabilizing sort of masculinity. in other words, someone who is very comfortable in their tears is also very good and healing to be around. so i think in a lot of ways, when you learn to own your emotions rather than push them away, that can very easily augment your butchness rather than take away from it.

now obviously everyone views butch/femme differently, whether as genders/sexuality labels/dynamics/what have you, but for me no matter what at the center of these terms there is always this nexus, this core focus, of care. in the dynamic, butch/femme is about butches & femmes caring for one another in complementary ways both in- and out-side of romantic relationships. so when we talk about butchness standalone, you and many other people reach for words like “protector,” and i don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with that, i think protection can and often is a key role, but my point here is, where is that urge to protect coming from? it’s from love, from caring about the people you love. and i think it’s important to remember that and to frame it that way, because when you do, it becomes pretty simple: your emotionalism is more than anything a sign of that urge to care/protect/provide in you, or a driving force to those urges, however you want to frame it. far from taking away from your butchness, your emotions are at the very foundation of what it can be. i talked about this in the butch/femme server a bit, and thren @lesbiandaemon said it perfectly:

i genuinely think i (and many others!) would feel so much safety and security being w someone who allows themself to be vulnerable and earnest abt their emotions and it definitely augments butchness, from my perspective as a femme. i envy and care deeply for the butch whose emotions and vulnerability are on display, there's a strength in that imo, even if you've been made to feel self conscious and dysphoric and "less than" bc of that. i think of phrases like "the strength to remain tender", "the violence it took to be this gentle" in the lens of trauma but if that applies and you're ok w it, i think it could also apply here too [...]

whether ppl know it or not, sometimes the way one carries themselves can be projected onto others; there's already an example in how anon mentions the "big boys/men don't cry" thing, vulnerability being shut out and dismissed/disparaged isn't going to make anyone more eager/open abt their emotions. and like, going back to the butch/femme dynamic, it does feel so much more stable and steady if someone has the courage to acknowledge and let themselves feel their emotions, it's very welcoming and validating, knowing that someone can have a strong image and show their tenderness, knowing that you're safe and free from mockery/scorn to do the same when someone protective of you knows how it feels and will care for you because they feel touched to their core and have let you know in more than one way.

and i want to add an important caveat here: obviously not everyone who cares very deeply is going to be outwardly emotional or show it in the same ways. that’s true for all kinds of reasons. i think a lot of the stoicism we see in traditional depictions of butches can come from how people relate emotions to masculinity (that is to say, how people view masculinity as inherently based around a distance from one’s “softer” side), but also, honestly, i think this may also have roots in the historical coping mechanisms that a lot of butches took on in the face of a world that was unkind to them.

in stone butch blues, for example, there’s a lot of talk about this idea of “hard” versus “soft,” or “going stone,” especially when jess is first getting into the bar scene and she’s still fresh-faced to violence. and going stone in this context isn’t just about sexuality, it's also about how so many butches learned to stop letting people in even at a basic emotional level. for them, hardening up was an inevitability of circumstance, not an inherent facet of their personality or a building block of butch identity. i’m sure plenty of old-school butches would be glad to know it’s no longer inevitable or necessary for a butch to close themselves off completely in order to survive.

of course there are also plenty of butches who are just naturally reserved with their emotions, and that’s also fine -- that doesn’t mean they don’t feel things, or that they don’t care. they care -- all of us do! some of us showing it more or less than others doesn’t reflect badly on any of us, whether we’re of a more stoic or a more open variety. but some of us really can’t help showing it, and that’s okay. that’s just how the love spills out. the right person won’t see that as weakness or a crack in the fine china of your masculinity or whatever, they’ll see it as a lovely and endearing part of your whole and warming butchness. so embrace your emotions. do your best to honor the role they play in butch/femmeness. try to love your emotions, or at the very least not to be afraid of them. and remember: you are strong. your tenderness will not destroy you. in fact, it’s what built you to begin with.