WEBVTT

00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:13.519
Welcome to your safe space. The podcast, your

00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.160
partner, friends, parents, whoever thinks it's

00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.219
dirty. Don't have time to read books? Want to

00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:18.859
understand all the jokes and the TikToks? We

00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.300
got you fam. We're the spice traders and we deal

00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:23.839
in spicy books. I'm Katie and I need it to make

00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.710
sense. I'm Liz and I'm hypercritical. Before

00:00:27.710 --> 00:00:29.510
we get to today's episode, we want to encourage

00:00:29.510 --> 00:00:31.250
you to check out our Patreon, where we publish

00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:33.490
extra episodes every other week, as well as ad

00:00:33.490 --> 00:00:35.170
-free versions of our regular feed episodes.

00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:37.549
Also, any series we read past the first book,

00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:39.670
all that coverage is Patreon only, so think series

00:00:39.670 --> 00:00:42.850
like Akatar, Fourthwing, Guild. Anyway, we really

00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:44.649
appreciate the support and encouragement to continue

00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:46.450
doing something we love and sharing it with you.

00:00:46.910 --> 00:00:49.369
Thanks in advance for checking that out. As always,

00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:51.590
we start this episode with three things. First

00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:53.869
is a generic trigger warning. You can find specific

00:00:53.869 --> 00:00:55.549
triggers for this book in our show notes, so

00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:57.850
please check those out. We also use foul language

00:00:57.850 --> 00:01:00.049
and talk a lot about sex. If you have sensitivity

00:01:00.049 --> 00:01:02.090
to either of those things, our podcast probably

00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:05.049
isn't for you. Second, our episodes talk about

00:01:05.049 --> 00:01:06.689
books, the whole book, nothing but the book,

00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:08.450
so help me goddess. If you don't want something

00:01:08.450 --> 00:01:10.590
spoiled, don't listen to this episode. And finally,

00:01:10.810 --> 00:01:12.469
we acknowledge that a good book can hit you at

00:01:12.469 --> 00:01:14.849
the wrong time. Our views discussed in our episodes

00:01:14.849 --> 00:01:16.730
are our opinion, and we don't want to diminish

00:01:16.730 --> 00:01:18.609
the work or the talents of the authors in our

00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:34.040
community. That said, we have some notes. So

00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.099
Katie, what are we talking about today? Today

00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:40.019
we are talking about part two of phantasma by

00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.500
Kaylee Smith So this is our part two and it's

00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.439
gonna cover chapters 19 through 33 and then in

00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.739
two weeks We'll cover the rest of the book as

00:01:47.739 --> 00:01:49.359
well as our ratings So if you didn't read the

00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:52.519
book or listen to part one do one of those things

00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.140
Otherwise, you're gonna be fused with corn corn

00:01:56.140 --> 00:02:01.359
fused corn fused I'm fused with corn. I like

00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.989
it We're here for this. So when we last left

00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:10.030
our merry duo of assholes, Ophelia and Blackwell

00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:13.310
were searching the house for other places that

00:02:13.310 --> 00:02:14.830
potentially Blackwell's never seen before, because

00:02:14.830 --> 00:02:16.289
that was the whole thing about Ophelia. She could

00:02:16.289 --> 00:02:19.629
open doors that he didn't have access to. But

00:02:19.629 --> 00:02:21.710
after searching for a few hours, they don't find

00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:25.270
anything. And so they go to a dusty, crusty old

00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:29.240
bar room for Blackwell to get a drink. While

00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:31.460
they're there they talk about who he could be

00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:33.360
and the particulars of his situation And we learned

00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.280
that one way for phantoms to be created is quote

00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:39.180
when an immortal dies and does not pass over

00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.259
Which for me is like he's a demon. He's demon.

00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.639
Yeah, he's demon. I still don't understand all

00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.099
of the differences in here and the author does

00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:50.620
give us a nice breakdown on the front of the

00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.979
book, but I I don't trust that Blackwell is just

00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:58.860
a Phantom. I want to say phantasm every time.

00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:03.080
Well, I mean, at this point, I'm like, could

00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:08.520
he be... I think I just call him Salem because

00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:10.360
I couldn't pronounce the rest of them, but like

00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:13.039
the prince. I'm wondering if that's him too.

00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:16.840
Because like just because he has a memory problem

00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:18.740
doesn't mean that other people don't have a memory

00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:22.289
problem either. Exactly. Exactly. And I mean,

00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:23.870
because we get I think in this part, right, we

00:03:23.870 --> 00:03:27.150
get the background of who that person is and

00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:29.310
maybe like why the trials even exist. If it has

00:03:29.310 --> 00:03:32.729
to be like love and curses and Blackwell's looking

00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:37.870
for his heart, like seems like there was I. OK,

00:03:37.949 --> 00:03:42.050
so I think it might have been the deceit trial.

00:03:43.590 --> 00:03:45.330
No, it's a different trial. Have you seen the

00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:48.469
seventh trial yet? No. okay then we'll talk about

00:03:48.469 --> 00:03:51.030
it in part three um because there's a moment

00:03:51.030 --> 00:03:54.849
that i was like he's a devil but it's it was

00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:57.490
not confirmed i mean at this point we've seen

00:03:57.490 --> 00:03:59.430
him naked so unless it's like on the bottom of

00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:02.270
his of his foot or something i don't think yeah

00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:07.050
he has a demon mark no so that's the only thing

00:04:07.050 --> 00:04:08.669
but maybe the prince of hell doesn't have a demon

00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:12.750
mark exactly because he's spatial yeah well and

00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:15.050
in the hierarchy it's like the king of devils

00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:18.050
the prince of devils devils And then demons,

00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.269
I guess, are technically not different from devils.

00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:22.990
I've been using that term interchangeably. Yeah,

00:04:23.009 --> 00:04:24.769
I don't really understand the difference. I don't

00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:26.250
think we've seen a demon. The only time the word

00:04:26.250 --> 00:04:28.689
demon has come up is when Kate is calling her

00:04:28.689 --> 00:04:31.529
a demon. Right. That's fair. She's just like,

00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:36.610
I am a girl. I'm just a girl standing in front

00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:41.689
of a boy. I don't know. But if he's the prince,

00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:45.279
it would be very interesting. I want him to be

00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.560
more than just like a rando ghost that's just

00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.699
trapped here. He has to be. He's got to be. I

00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:52.920
mean, well, and it's interesting in this conversation

00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:55.360
because he's like, well, that's or Ophelia is

00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.759
saying that's one way that a phantom can be created.

00:04:57.779 --> 00:04:59.480
But there are other ways, but she doesn't expand

00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:00.860
on the other way. So I'm like, OK, so he's an

00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:03.459
immortal that died and didn't pass over. Yeah.

00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.079
Which no one knows why. If he's if he's the king

00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.240
of hell, he could have like or the prince of

00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:11.920
hell, he could have like been in the mortal world.

00:05:12.530 --> 00:05:15.050
died and then been trapped there because of what

00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:17.550
he did by his father so his father isn't allowing

00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:19.430
him to pass over which for him would be just

00:05:19.430 --> 00:05:26.970
going back to his home oh okay i like that so

00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:29.089
that's that's my theory at this point in time

00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:32.029
being about 62 of the way back through the book

00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:33.670
or sorry a little bit more than that i'm sorry

00:05:33.670 --> 00:05:36.310
i'm on chapter 42 yeah you're more than that

00:05:36.310 --> 00:05:38.050
because i think i'm at like 76 you have to be

00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:42.560
at like 68 or 70 I have to be at least at 66

00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.959
% because that's a third of the book. Exactly.

00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:46.620
And you're beyond that because we talked about

00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:48.800
things that aren't covered in this. So that's

00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.360
math. Anyway, their decision is interrupted by

00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:56.399
Jasper, who's the man who let Ophelia into the

00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:58.220
competition at the front door. And then he's

00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:01.889
also a devil. he has a third eye on his forehead

00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:05.529
as his devil mark and he shares basically unasked

00:06:05.529 --> 00:06:07.649
quote there have been a few past contestants

00:06:07.649 --> 00:06:09.930
he blackwell made a deal with that damn near

00:06:09.930 --> 00:06:12.350
broke fantasma's cardinal rule for our handsome

00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:14.709
friend here might want to mind your heart around

00:06:14.709 --> 00:06:16.490
him or the trials won't be the worst that'll

00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:20.529
happen to you i want to know more about that

00:06:20.529 --> 00:06:24.089
because that implies that blackwell has fallen

00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:26.810
in love or come close to some love match with

00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:31.240
other contestants correct And then, later in

00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.819
this part, he tells Ophelia, like, well, I've

00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:36.300
kissed a few, but I haven't fucked any. Which

00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:39.759
seems to be counter to what Jasper said. Exactly.

00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.060
And that's why I'm not sure how much I believe.

00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:43.439
I don't know who to believe, and I don't really

00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.000
trust any of them. No, I don't either. And I

00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.620
don't know who can lie and who can't. And if...

00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:54.399
What's his name? Fuck. Blackwell. Just yeeted

00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:58.139
out of my head. If Blackwell really is the quote

00:06:58.139 --> 00:07:03.480
-unquote creator, of this place, like, the other

00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:07.639
devils could know that. Yeah. And taunting him,

00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.740
you know? Especially if he, like, forgot he's

00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.360
the creator. Mm -hmm. Because that would be a

00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.420
fun twist. And everyone knows he's the creator

00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:22.740
but him. Right. I think it's his own damn fault,

00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:24.779
though, because, okay, I'm sorry. I'm speaking

00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:26.279
out. I'm gonna hold it in. I'm gonna wait. It'll

00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:31.670
be in this part. Rain it in. Okay, I think it's

00:07:31.670 --> 00:07:36.930
in this part. So So then it's time for the next

00:07:36.930 --> 00:07:40.269
trial which is based on lust and we had a conversation

00:07:40.269 --> 00:07:42.990
about this in our debrief and I'm not sure that

00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:46.810
we It was clearly enunciated in part one So I'm

00:07:46.810 --> 00:07:49.009
just gonna say it here. The trials are based

00:07:49.009 --> 00:07:53.310
on the the nine circles of hell which are a Close

00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:55.430
-Fen diagram, but not a complete circle with

00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:58.500
the seven deadly sins Which is not at all confusing,

00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:00.699
because I knew it was the seven circles of hell,

00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:02.560
but I thought those were also the seven deadly

00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:06.300
sins plus purgatory, plus whatever the ninth

00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.839
circle is. I think it's just hell. Yeah. And

00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.839
I was wrong. So when we start getting trials

00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.339
that were not sins, I was like, what is she just

00:08:15.339 --> 00:08:18.720
making shit up? But she's not. She's doing she

00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.120
did her research. Yeah, no, totally did the research.

00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:26.459
It's just I. I'm bad at listening a lot of the

00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:28.740
time. Yeah. So should we read these books? Because

00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:30.180
like, listen, we all know what we're here for.

00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:33.279
And it's not always the world building. No, it's

00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.120
not. And by the time we're this far into the

00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:38.179
book, I might have missed some of the world building

00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:40.340
because I didn't know that I should be paying

00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:42.519
attention to it. You know what I mean? Exactly.

00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:44.580
And I think this was hard because I think you

00:08:44.580 --> 00:08:46.779
and I. Both do the same thing where we go into

00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:48.740
these books blind. Like, I have a general, like,

00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:50.899
this is about a haunted house competition and

00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:53.399
she's a necromancer. That is literally all I

00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:59.480
knew. Right. I'm so OK. I will say one thing

00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:01.340
that I really wish. I mean, we're two thirds

00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.460
of the way through the book here, and it's giving

00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:06.960
nothing away at this point to say I really wish

00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.360
that we got more of her necromancer magic. Me,

00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.960
too, because we get her specter magic, which.

00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:16.559
Still confuses me. We'll come to that. But we

00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.679
don't get any necromancer magic. I want her to

00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:20.940
be like rising an army from the dead to fight

00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:23.559
by her side. Right. And for as much death as

00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:26.799
in this house, like... She should be talking

00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.539
to ghosts all the time. It would be super cool

00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:32.860
if she could dispel her own haunts because the

00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:36.720
ghouls are undead or dead adjacent. And she could

00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.399
just be like, goodbye. That would make sense,

00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:40.919
because I was really excited about her being

00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:42.799
a necromancer, because we don't read about that.

00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:44.799
Like, we get a lot of magic and witchcraft and,

00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.299
like, fey. But really, she could just be a witch.

00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:51.259
Correct. That's what we see. Yeah. And it's kind

00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:52.779
of a bummer. Or a specter, for all I know. But

00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:55.419
I don't know what that is. Right. Which we will

00:09:55.419 --> 00:09:58.519
get to. Yes. Anyway, so before - I'm mad about

00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.340
it. Mad, mad. Before the trial itself in the

00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:05.500
dining room, The other contestants trickle in

00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:07.860
and they accuse Ophelia of being a demon. And

00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:11.500
so Cade smacks her across the face. This causes

00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:14.379
her lip to split and for her to bleed red blood.

00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:17.059
And because she bleeds red blood, everybody takes

00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:18.600
that as proof that she's human. And I'm like,

00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.179
did we get information before that nonhumans

00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:24.120
bleed a different color blood? I didn't understand

00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:28.279
that. If we did, I also missed it. But it seems

00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:30.600
to be a thing because they say this a couple

00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:32.200
of times. Like, I think even in later trials,

00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:34.720
she's like, I bleed red just like you. Yeah.

00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.379
But OK, one, I don't know that that means anything.

00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:41.500
And two, this is a magical place. So if she was

00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:43.879
a demon, couldn't she just like make you hallucinate?

00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.320
Right. It's actually not. But but but we do see

00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:53.759
actually. Who is it? there's that character after

00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.159
one of the trials that's bleeding like silver

00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:02.059
um lucy has lucy she's described as not it's

00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:03.659
not that she's bleeding silver it's that there's

00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.720
like an opalescent sheen on it yeah so what is

00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:08.899
that i don't know and we don't i don't think

00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:10.700
we find out because she gets heated from the

00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:15.940
competition yeah i guess yeah well sorry maybe

00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:18.340
she'll come back but i don't know i had questions

00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:22.490
about that yeah so i don't know So anyway, Ophelia

00:11:22.490 --> 00:11:24.250
is basically like, yeah, that was a bad idea,

00:11:24.289 --> 00:11:27.429
but the trial starts and so Ophelia and the rest

00:11:27.429 --> 00:11:31.149
are transported into the trial. And basically,

00:11:31.470 --> 00:11:33.809
they get put into their own little sex parlor

00:11:33.809 --> 00:11:37.450
rooms. Ophelia's in hers without anybody, so

00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:39.970
I assume the other ones are having a similar

00:11:39.970 --> 00:11:42.809
experience. Essentially, there's a bunch of beds

00:11:42.809 --> 00:11:44.629
around the room and there are people and demons

00:11:44.629 --> 00:11:47.960
on top of them enjoying each other. And Ophelia's

00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:50.120
a little bit taken aback, but very soon she's

00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.440
met by a waiter with several filled glasses on

00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.200
his tray, and he tells her that she must pick

00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.379
one. He doesn't tell her what they do, and so

00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:00.179
she just picks the red one, because I guess red

00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:06.700
is her favorite color. Fine. Fine. This elixir

00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:09.039
essentially turns everybody into a vampire, because

00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.360
it gives them blood lust. The different types

00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:14.500
of blood. So you see that I wanted I was trying

00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:16.279
to figure out what the other colors would have

00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.620
been and I couldn't think of any other lust besides

00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:22.320
like the traditional kind or bloodlust Right

00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.659
and I was thinking like well that could be there

00:12:24.659 --> 00:12:29.799
could be a lust for food maybe There could be

00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.059
like a different kind of bloodlust like a angry

00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:37.480
one Yeah, I don't know. I had that same thought

00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:39.179
I was like, what are the other ones do? Yeah,

00:12:39.179 --> 00:12:43.029
I just wanted to know so They're all vampires.

00:12:44.070 --> 00:12:46.470
They're all vampires. Once this happens, one

00:12:46.470 --> 00:12:49.210
of the groups on the bed calls to her and she

00:12:49.210 --> 00:12:51.029
goes over because she's so intoxicated from the

00:12:51.029 --> 00:12:53.509
beverage and the enchantment and then she sits

00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:56.029
with them for a while. These people run their

00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:57.789
hands all over her but nothing more while they

00:12:57.789 --> 00:12:59.509
watch some other folks get busy in the center

00:12:59.509 --> 00:13:02.590
of the room. After a while though, Blackwell

00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:05.830
is there and pulls her away from these folks,

00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:08.710
calls Ophelia to him. Her shadow voice takes

00:13:08.710 --> 00:13:10.250
this opportunity to tell her that she's making

00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:12.289
a mistake catching feelings for Blackwell because

00:13:12.289 --> 00:13:14.590
she sees him and she lights up. She's like, oh,

00:13:14.610 --> 00:13:18.590
this is so great. Blackwell. Wow. But her thoughts

00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:20.350
are immediately interrupted by Blackwell telling

00:13:20.350 --> 00:13:22.950
her that the drink that she had was a slow acting

00:13:22.950 --> 00:13:25.289
poison and she must take the antidote in order

00:13:25.289 --> 00:13:28.190
to survive the challenge, which he procures for

00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:30.629
her. And this is also when he tells her that

00:13:30.629 --> 00:13:32.429
the drink gave everybody blood lust, including

00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:36.820
her. He finally reveals that in order to win,

00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:40.360
she has to drink somebody's blood and have her

00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.240
blood drunk by somebody else. And he offers to

00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.700
do that for her. And at first I was like, yes,

00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:47.259
we're going to get a vampire thing. I was like,

00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:52.720
there's always a vampire thing in here. No. I

00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.240
know. I was a little sad about it, too, because

00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.039
I was here for it. I was like, OK, yeah, let's

00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.340
go. Yeah. Yeah. Ready? I'm in. I'm fine with

00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:02.820
this. It's going to be a great scene. No. Alas

00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:07.080
and alack. Alas and alack. So Ophelia reluctantly

00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.940
agrees, but as they get close and Blackwell starts

00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:11.720
holding her and whispering things to her, she

00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:16.000
can't help but notice it's slightly off. Blackwell's

00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.779
not quite the Blackwell that she knows. Like

00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.960
his skin is cold, he's like, he's just a little

00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.320
different. He's just a little bit, his mannerisms

00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.039
are different. He's like, not as like... Consider

00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:30.559
it. I don't know how else to say it. Yeah, and

00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:35.299
he's not as like witty or flirty. Mm -hmm So

00:14:35.299 --> 00:14:37.419
she asks him how he knew where to find her because

00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:40.279
she didn't summon him Then he calls her sweetheart

00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:42.480
instead of angel and she realizes that this person

00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.379
is not black Well, she's like, you don't call

00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:46.519
me sweetheart. What the fuck? What the fuck?

00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.460
So he called her sweetheart earlier and I immediately

00:14:49.460 --> 00:14:52.120
clocked it Mm -hmm. I clocked it before she did

00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.679
and I was really I clocked it like It's just

00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.519
passed, like they agree to exchange blood. And

00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.220
that's when I was like, god damn it, it's not

00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:02.159
him. Me too. I think when he first comes up to

00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.720
her, he's like, hey, sweetheart. I'm like, who's?

00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:07.360
What's happening here? I know. I think literally

00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:08.919
out loud, I was like, he doesn't call her sweetheart.

00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:15.720
So during the course of this conversation, she

00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.200
says, Blackwell's name three times. And so the

00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:20.519
real one appears. And it doesn't take him long

00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.820
to piece together what's happened already. So

00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:27.179
this trial put an apparition in front of her

00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.120
in the shape of her desires, which was him. And

00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.879
he takes that super well. He's like, oh, this

00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.450
is going to be fun. Most excellent. Yeah. But

00:15:35.450 --> 00:15:38.490
Ophelia's like, we have to focus on the task

00:15:38.490 --> 00:15:39.909
at hand. We have to get out of here. So they

00:15:39.909 --> 00:15:42.190
start looking under the beds because that's where

00:15:42.190 --> 00:15:44.990
Blackwell says the escape hatches for this one

00:15:44.990 --> 00:15:46.789
challenge, apparently. And when they find it,

00:15:47.190 --> 00:15:49.590
Ophelia exits the challenge with no further incident.

00:15:50.190 --> 00:15:52.269
So like she never actually had to exchange blood?

00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:55.529
No, that was a lie. OK, I thought so. But then

00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:58.429
I was like, but that kind of makes sense. It

00:15:58.429 --> 00:16:02.330
kind of makes sense. But this was so there's

00:16:02.330 --> 00:16:04.409
a couple of challenges here that I'm like that.

00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:08.940
It's not so bad this one. No, not so bad. No,

00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.799
like the worst part about this one is like you

00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:14.240
just stay there until you're poisoned Yeah, I

00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.440
mean you might die from it a little bit but like

00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.440
it doesn't seem like a bad way to go No, well

00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.659
and that's that's what makes me wonder what the

00:16:21.659 --> 00:16:23.460
other vials were even more because I'm like,

00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:27.259
well are there worse Outcomes and and if all

00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:32.889
you had to do was find a trap door like That's

00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.350
fine. Yeah, there are a couple of them like this

00:16:35.350 --> 00:16:38.470
seems fine. Yeah, some of them are horrifying.

00:16:39.210 --> 00:16:42.210
Yeah, some of them are horrifying. But some of

00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:45.889
them are fine. So after the challenge, Ophelia

00:16:45.889 --> 00:16:48.769
is rattled because she doesn't know like what

00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:53.129
or how to believe anything anymore. And she asks

00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:55.250
Blackwell how she can even trust if he's real.

00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.080
He takes this opportunity to talk her down from

00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:01.120
the ledge and slides in quote, you know It would

00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:04.079
be objectively beneficial to let me prove to

00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:05.980
you exactly what it feels like to be kissed by

00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:08.940
me Just in case such a thing were to ever happen

00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:12.559
again. I Think his logic is sound. I do too.

00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.799
I couldn't find a hole in it anywhere. Nope.

00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:19.700
Nope Ophelia politely refuses though and then

00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.430
Blackwell asks about her split lip and she tells

00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:24.869
him that Cade gave it to her and he immediately

00:17:24.869 --> 00:17:27.269
disappears to handle that situation. Which is

00:17:27.269 --> 00:17:29.069
great. There's big touch her and die vibes and

00:17:29.069 --> 00:17:31.369
I mean it just hits every time. Like it just

00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:36.890
I love it. Yeah I love it and like I also love

00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:41.190
a little bit of like blind rage where like I'm

00:17:41.190 --> 00:17:44.230
gonna go like avenge your honor but not really

00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:46.329
realizing that that's gonna cause a bigger problem

00:17:46.329 --> 00:17:50.640
for the person you're avenging. Yeah. But I like

00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.079
that. I like that too. Yeah, it's more interesting

00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:55.700
the consequences of my know my own actions are

00:17:55.700 --> 00:18:09.660
coming Oh, no, no So once she's alone Ophelia

00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:12.180
decides to go to the library again to look around

00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:16.200
and There she finds Lucy Lucy apologizes for

00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.099
what Kate did to Ophelia earlier, because remember

00:18:20.099 --> 00:18:23.799
Lucy and Cade are cousins. But Ophelia doesn't

00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:25.440
have a problem seeing all of this in the context

00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.920
of the game, and so she tries to push Lucy off.

00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:31.539
In this conversation, we learn that Lucy is in

00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:33.799
the library waiting for Leon, and it's clear

00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:36.460
that the two have started an affair. Ophelia

00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:38.619
can't help but think that's a terrible idea.

00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.400
Rocks in glass houses, something, something.

00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:43.660
OK, right. I was like, who are you to judge,

00:18:43.660 --> 00:18:47.680
ma 'am? Also, at least Leon is a human. Truly.

00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:52.960
We go on to learn that Lucy knows Genevieve because

00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.500
they met the prior year but when Ophelia asks

00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:58.299
whether Genevieve ever brought up Fantasia in

00:18:58.299 --> 00:19:00.799
their friendship Lucy says no and she adds that's

00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.680
why she was surprised to see Ophelia here on

00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.240
the first night. Ophelia is reeling from this

00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.559
information, but she ends up telling Lucy, quote,

00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.539
I don't know how close you and Genevieve were,

00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.839
but that does not make the two of us allies.

00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:15.359
If you were smart, you wouldn't be making allies

00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.299
at all. It will only lead to heartbreak. I do

00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:21.039
always wonder in games like this because allies

00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.359
are mentioned a few times where it's like it's

00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:24.720
a game to the death, right? There can only be

00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.420
one winner. Basically, you can quit. And I always

00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:30.779
like have the mind game of like, I guess an ally

00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:33.720
makes sense, but. At what point do you turn on

00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:35.539
each other? Because it's going to happen. Like,

00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:37.119
I would be with her. I'd be like, no allies.

00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:38.960
I'm going to do it all by myself. Can't trust

00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.880
anybody. Yeah, it's also interesting in the context

00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:43.339
of some of these games, because it seems like

00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:45.799
it almost encourages them to work together sometimes.

00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.079
Yeah. I mean, the deceit one, which I don't think

00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:52.200
is in this section, but we know in part three,

00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.599
that one, like, working together is really the

00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:59.720
only way to do it. Yeah, exactly. So Lucy leaves

00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.809
the library with Leon. giving Ophelia the opportunity

00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:05.589
to search for hidden compartments again. She

00:20:05.589 --> 00:20:07.430
finds a button on one of the shelves, but before

00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:11.170
she can press it, Jasper joins her. He offers

00:20:11.170 --> 00:20:14.670
a better deal than 10 years with Blackwell, but

00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:16.690
she declines and their conversation is interrupted

00:20:16.690 --> 00:20:18.690
by two other devils appearing out of nowhere

00:20:18.690 --> 00:20:21.170
and making out on one of the gouges. Don't they

00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:25.869
have somewhere else to hang out? It was so weird.

00:20:25.950 --> 00:20:29.500
It was such a random turn of events. It really

00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:33.019
was but it does give Avelia the opportunity to

00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:36.019
push the button and so when she does this the

00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:39.000
entire shelf like shifts Scooby -Doo style and

00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:43.920
dumps her into a dark secret passageway. Once

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:45.980
she's in there she summons Blackwell and when

00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:48.859
he appears she's so relieved that she hugs him.

00:20:49.220 --> 00:20:53.640
She admits that this whole day has her a bit

00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:55.460
off and when the secret passageway dumped her

00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:58.349
into this place she panicked a little bit. Then

00:20:58.349 --> 00:21:00.329
she realizes that Blackwell is covered in blood

00:21:00.329 --> 00:21:03.190
and he confirms that it's Cade's blood, but don't

00:21:03.190 --> 00:21:06.650
worry. I didn't kill him I Think that was a miss

00:21:06.650 --> 00:21:09.109
my guy, but there's probably rules about that

00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:12.009
Probably I don't know the haunts would kill him

00:21:12.009 --> 00:21:15.049
It makes me wonder if he like physically hurt

00:21:15.049 --> 00:21:17.210
him and then healed him because when we next

00:21:17.210 --> 00:21:19.750
see Kate, he's like basically fine He does seem

00:21:19.750 --> 00:21:21.509
violent. He mentions being attacked. It's like

00:21:21.509 --> 00:21:23.869
he remembers it, but he's not injured at all,

00:21:23.869 --> 00:21:27.599
right? Yeah I feel like it's almost more insidious.

00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.039
It's super insidious. I would do it every night.

00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.819
This secret passageway room that they're in is

00:21:37.819 --> 00:21:41.059
empty and it has no windows and no doors. As

00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:43.079
they look, they eventually find bricks with numbers

00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:45.240
scratched on them and when they press them in

00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:50.019
sequence, a secret door opens. That also causes

00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:53.789
acid to rain down from the ceiling? Because why

00:21:53.789 --> 00:21:56.509
not? Because why not? And so they rush through

00:21:56.509 --> 00:21:59.089
the passage, but Ophelia has gotten acid on her

00:21:59.089 --> 00:22:01.809
clothes. And so Blackwell's like, well, you got

00:22:01.809 --> 00:22:03.849
to take your clothes off. And so it doesn't touch

00:22:03.849 --> 00:22:08.829
your skin, girl. Obviously. Obviously. Blackwell

00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:11.829
goes on to say that he He wasted too much energy

00:22:11.829 --> 00:22:13.809
on Kate and so he's not able to transport them

00:22:13.809 --> 00:22:16.309
away right now He tells her quote every time

00:22:16.309 --> 00:22:18.890
I allow you to get hurt the bond unravels a little

00:22:18.890 --> 00:22:21.329
Eventually, it will make it harder to hear you

00:22:21.329 --> 00:22:24.329
when you summon me, which seems very inconvenient

00:22:24.329 --> 00:22:28.029
Also, this girl gets hurt every other page, right?

00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:38.140
So Why does that happen? Yeah Ophelia is disheartened

00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:40.140
from this information and the acid and the fact

00:22:40.140 --> 00:22:42.480
that she's half naked because the room they end

00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.980
up in is like just like the one that they left.

00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:47.619
It's basically empty with just another bookshelf

00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:49.319
that Ophelia assumes will take them back into

00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:54.380
the library. And she's like, this feels like

00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:57.660
worse than a haunt because the house seems like

00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:01.920
it's toying with us, essentially. Yeah, and that

00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:06.319
just seems... It's like the house is conspiring

00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.259
against Blackwell, which I wonder why that might

00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:14.559
be. Right, if the house is a creation of his

00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.900
fathers to keep him trapped from it for eternity.

00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:19.579
Makes sense that it would be kind of sentient

00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:22.759
against him escaping. Right. Okay, so this is

00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:25.059
interesting though. Like if Blackwell is the

00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:27.680
Prince of Hell and he got trapped because he

00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:30.559
of a relationship that he had with somebody else,

00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:32.960
a love that was so strong that he decided to

00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:34.960
go against his father. How do you feel about

00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:36.920
that in the context of like reading a romance

00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:42.480
about somebody else? It feels like that other

00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.539
vampire book we read where that was the story

00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:48.640
and she just also was that somebody else. So

00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.460
it's like. It's like our main character. Yeah,

00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:56.759
like she has to be. Yeah, she's got to be I don't

00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:59.720
know because otherwise it's like oh I freed you

00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:03.240
But my love could never compare and that I mean

00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:06.339
I would have a complex about that for sure Yeah,

00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.839
same I mean maybe his memory is wiped of this

00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.240
person or maybe it's just been centuries of like

00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:14.920
however long and like There's no way that they

00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:17.079
can but I mean he's the queen of her the king

00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:20.640
prince whatever of hell. So like I don't know

00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.000
That would be weird. I'm wondering if that's

00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.220
the case, how they're going to resolve that.

00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:26.519
I know, because it is a standalone, right? So

00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:29.299
we need some sort of ending, unless she dies

00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:31.019
to save her sister, and then it doesn't fucking

00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:34.880
matter. And then they just live together as phantoms

00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:38.440
or whatever. I would still be worried, though.

00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.059
And also, are you going to keep losing your memories?

00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:43.779
Maybe he just doesn't remember his love, and

00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:51.039
then it's fine. Right. Or maybe Sinclair is lying

00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:57.980
and he's really the prince and Blackwell aided

00:24:57.980 --> 00:25:01.319
and abetted him. And so they're both trapped.

00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:04.559
Like the story's true, it's just the people are

00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.339
different. The people are different, that would

00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:09.039
be interesting. Because even when they're talking,

00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:11.259
and I'm so sorry listeners, we will get to this,

00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:13.690
but... Yeah. When Sinclair's talking about the

00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.710
story, he's like, oh, just he sabotaged me at

00:25:16.710 --> 00:25:19.950
every, like, that's not an answer. Why would

00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:24.549
he sabotage you? Yeah. Why would he care? Yeah.

00:25:25.410 --> 00:25:26.769
That would be interesting, because I'm curious

00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:28.990
to see where Sinclair comes into all of this.

00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:34.190
Anyway, so they're still in the secret passageway.

00:25:34.230 --> 00:25:35.710
We've jumped ahead, but now we're going to jump

00:25:35.710 --> 00:25:37.410
back. So they're still in the secret passageway.

00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:41.019
Her clothes are gone basically because her of

00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:43.559
the acid, right? And Blackwell again offers to

00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:46.019
show her what he can do and she takes him up

00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:47.720
on it. And so they have a little scene together

00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:51.779
against the wall, which is great. It's super

00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:53.759
great. He goes to his knees for her. It's quite

00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.660
nice. Yeah. And I'm super glad because like from

00:25:56.660 --> 00:26:00.119
here on, we get a scene about every three chapters

00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.619
or so. And I really appreciate that. Oh, yeah.

00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:05.079
I had no complaints. And they're so good. They're

00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:08.630
so good. They are detailed. They're long enough.

00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:12.369
They have the communication. They have the chemistry.

00:26:13.190 --> 00:26:18.569
Chemistry, yeah. So good. It's so good. After

00:26:18.569 --> 00:26:20.710
this particular scene, Ophelia admits that she's

00:26:20.710 --> 00:26:25.289
never had an orgasm before. Was she a virgin?

00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:27.210
No, right? No. It just wasn't great. She tells

00:26:27.210 --> 00:26:29.710
us that she had a lover before, but she had never

00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:33.359
enjoyed sex. OK, that's what I thought. But she

00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:34.640
does because it's kind of like this weird time

00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:36.380
period thing again, where she's not like explicit

00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:40.400
about her like relationship. And I couldn't figure

00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:41.759
out also, I was reading at the top of my lungs

00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:47.359
to like get to more sex to be relatable or to

00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:49.000
like the spooky things. I was like, OK, whatever,

00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:50.519
I don't care. But then I was like, wait a minute.

00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:55.759
What do I care? Yeah. So even though she enjoyed

00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:58.240
their time together, she tells Blackwell, quote,

00:26:58.329 --> 00:27:00.349
That can't happen again. Our relationship is

00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:02.589
complicated enough with what with the blood bargain

00:27:02.589 --> 00:27:07.789
and all. Fine. Probably level heads should prevail.

00:27:08.029 --> 00:27:10.930
I get it. But also we know what book we're reading.

00:27:11.309 --> 00:27:15.730
I know. Come on, girl. So Blackwell's like heard.

00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:20.470
I get it. You're right. My bad. My bad. Before

00:27:20.470 --> 00:27:22.730
they leave the room, though, Ophelia finds words

00:27:22.730 --> 00:27:25.180
carved into that bookshelf. There's something

00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:27.000
above that scratched out that she can't quite

00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.680
make out. But what she can make out reads, and

00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:32.319
Gabriel forever. So it's clear that it was somebody's

00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:34.579
name and Gabriel forever, like a love thing.

00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:37.359
And we're looking for Gabriel, if you recall.

00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:43.440
That's true. We are. So back in her room, Blackwell

00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.339
suggests that they get the contestant logs to

00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:47.480
see if they can find a Gabriel that makes any

00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:50.420
sense. Blackwell agrees to get that log the next

00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:52.480
day, but stays with Elphelia while she falls

00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:55.029
asleep. Before she falls asleep the shadow voice

00:27:55.029 --> 00:27:56.710
makes her knock three times on her headboard

00:27:56.710 --> 00:28:01.490
and Blackwell asks her the fuck And when she

00:28:01.490 --> 00:28:03.710
tells him he offers to try to vanquish her inner

00:28:03.710 --> 00:28:08.549
demons and she wishes that it was that easy How

00:28:08.549 --> 00:28:10.730
could he vanquish them though I would have asked

00:28:10.730 --> 00:28:12.750
a couple follow -up questions like maybe it's

00:28:12.750 --> 00:28:15.690
not that easy, but we could at least ask Yeah,

00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:18.849
I had that too. I was like if you're offering

00:28:18.849 --> 00:28:21.470
let's try something Because all the worst that

00:28:21.470 --> 00:28:22.910
happens is it doesn't work, which is what you

00:28:22.910 --> 00:28:25.089
thought was going to happen anyway. Bummer. Yeah.

00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:29.849
Yeah. When Ophelia wakes up, Blackwell is gone.

00:28:29.890 --> 00:28:31.769
And when she remembers what they did in that

00:28:31.769 --> 00:28:33.890
secret room, she's pleased. But the shadow voice

00:28:33.890 --> 00:28:36.049
takes that opportunity to call her embarrassing.

00:28:36.289 --> 00:28:38.529
And I really like the way that the shadow voice

00:28:38.529 --> 00:28:41.950
does this in the story, because it's just embarrassing

00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:44.769
in bold in italics over and over and over and

00:28:44.769 --> 00:28:46.529
over. So you get a sense of what it's like for

00:28:46.529 --> 00:28:48.690
her. Yeah, I thought that was really well done.

00:28:48.789 --> 00:28:51.390
I love when authors use like the actual typography

00:28:51.390 --> 00:28:55.029
to express that. And this was really well done

00:28:55.029 --> 00:28:57.869
here because it's stressful. Yeah, it's stressful.

00:28:58.170 --> 00:29:01.089
And it does this a couple of times for a number

00:29:01.089 --> 00:29:03.589
of different words. And every time, it's very

00:29:03.589 --> 00:29:08.049
well done. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. It sounds

00:29:08.049 --> 00:29:13.809
horrible. Yeah, it's poor girl. She verbally

00:29:13.809 --> 00:29:16.329
tells it to stop out loud. And that's the exact

00:29:16.329 --> 00:29:19.329
moment that Blackwell reappears. She tells him

00:29:19.329 --> 00:29:20.829
what the shadow voice was saying. And he tells

00:29:20.829 --> 00:29:23.069
her, quote, there is nothing about you that I

00:29:23.069 --> 00:29:28.500
find undesirable. Oh. I also really like that

00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:35.140
he's all in. Oh yeah, immediately. Yeah. She

00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:38.440
fell first, he fell harder. Yes, exactly. And

00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:41.579
I love it. So Blackwell then asks who the shadow

00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:44.700
voice is, but Ophelia can't give him an answer.

00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:47.819
No, this goes into what we were talking about

00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:50.240
in the first part where she says, sometimes I

00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.119
think it's me, but... I don't know. And maybe

00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:54.640
it's just the dark parts of myself or maybe it's

00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.579
something else, which goes in our conversation

00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:59.619
of like, is it OCD or is it supernatural? And

00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:02.519
I still don't know. Yeah, I'm interested to see

00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:06.420
how that resolves. Like it could just be like

00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:09.720
OCD that she has that is quieted when she's with

00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:11.880
Blackwell. Fine. But I think it would be far

00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:13.519
more interesting if it was like some kind of

00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.640
more insidious paranormal thing. Exactly. I think

00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.650
so, too. So Blackwell drops it but tells her

00:30:20.650 --> 00:30:23.130
that he asked Jasper for the logs by calling

00:30:23.130 --> 00:30:24.670
in a favor and that they should have them in

00:30:24.670 --> 00:30:26.990
a few hours He then suggests that they spend

00:30:26.990 --> 00:30:29.049
the time between now and then training her magic

00:30:29.049 --> 00:30:31.309
a little bit so she can wield it more consistently

00:30:31.309 --> 00:30:35.569
So when they practice they practice both her

00:30:35.569 --> 00:30:37.630
lightning as well as her ability to turn invisible

00:30:38.219 --> 00:30:40.440
She asks Blackwell whether he's heard of another

00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:42.420
necromancer with that power, but before he can

00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:44.680
answer Jasper arrives with the contestant logs.

00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:47.059
Okay, this is what I started saying earlier where

00:30:47.059 --> 00:30:48.839
I think it's Blackwell's own fault that he can't

00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:51.299
remember shit because Jasper says that he traded

00:30:51.299 --> 00:30:54.140
like three years of memory for it. Right. Does

00:30:54.140 --> 00:30:55.420
he just keep forgetting that he's like giving

00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:58.279
up his own memories? It's possible. That's a

00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:01.960
really good point. Stop using your memories as

00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:04.740
a bargaining chip, buddy. Yeah, but it could

00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:06.380
also be like a chicken in the egg thing. Like

00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:10.420
if you have this memory block, then you're like,

00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.180
yeah, fuck, I don't care about memories, have

00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:14.859
them. Yeah, which is very true. Or maybe that's

00:31:14.859 --> 00:31:17.400
also part of the curse of like, I'll trade you

00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:20.339
my memories and my memory of making this trade.

00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:25.380
Right. So then it continues to go around and

00:31:25.380 --> 00:31:27.799
around and around again. Oh, that's vicious.

00:31:28.339 --> 00:31:31.559
I know. That could be interesting that like that

00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:33.400
could just be an interesting concept of like

00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:36.799
You did this one this thing this one time and

00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:38.599
now you're just cursing yourself over and over

00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:42.299
again Exactly, eventually you're gonna run out,

00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:45.740
right? Yeah, I I guess I mean an immortal has

00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:48.559
a long That's true history, but I still just

00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:51.579
how far back your history goes And like do you

00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:53.579
get to pick which three years or is it just like

00:31:53.579 --> 00:31:56.839
any three random years? Are they sequential or

00:31:56.839 --> 00:31:58.640
is it just like three years of time? And so it's

00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:01.839
like just Couple days here and there like a defrag

00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:06.740
memory or something like that crazy So with logs

00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:09.000
in hand Blackwell agrees to start from the most

00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:11.680
recent and then work work his way backwards because

00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:15.759
like Gabriel obviously is somebody that Was it

00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.240
was in their life? Maybe at some point there's

00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:19.720
news articles about them. So she's like it's

00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:21.400
not at the start, right? It's got to be more

00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.480
recent than that. See, okay I get the logic but

00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:26.700
also like your family are necromancers. So like

00:32:26.700 --> 00:32:28.880
Gabriel could have existed at any point in time

00:32:29.130 --> 00:32:32.490
That's a good point. I mean, that ends up not

00:32:32.490 --> 00:32:35.289
being what it is, but theoretically, it could

00:32:35.289 --> 00:32:38.009
be from the start because you can talk to ghosts.

00:32:38.670 --> 00:32:40.670
Right. So maybe their family just keeps amassing

00:32:40.670 --> 00:32:43.089
power by winning this competition and using the

00:32:43.089 --> 00:32:47.130
same ghost. That would be cool. That would be

00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:52.190
really cool. So anyway, Blackwell is going to

00:32:52.190 --> 00:32:54.210
do this research and Ophelia has to go to the

00:32:54.210 --> 00:32:56.720
next challenge. But before she goes, he makes

00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.500
her promise to summon him as soon as she gets

00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:02.599
through the portal. That never works. Like, she

00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:05.920
forgets immediately every time. Every time. I

00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:07.519
would go to the portal with my eyes closed and

00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:09.579
summon him before I open my eyes. That's what

00:33:09.579 --> 00:33:11.559
I would do, too, because she's always like, it

00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:13.339
always takes her far too long to summon Blackwell.

00:33:13.460 --> 00:33:15.170
I'm just like, girl. And I think, I don't know

00:33:15.170 --> 00:33:16.450
if it's this next one or the one. It doesn't

00:33:16.450 --> 00:33:18.069
matter. But she even, he calls her out on that.

00:33:18.069 --> 00:33:20.410
And she's like, well, excuse me for being scared.

00:33:20.430 --> 00:33:23.190
And I'm like, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. That's

00:33:23.190 --> 00:33:29.829
not how this works. Stupid answer. So Ophelia

00:33:29.829 --> 00:33:32.309
makes her way to the dining room. So as Ophelia

00:33:32.309 --> 00:33:33.890
makes her way to the dining room, she daydreams

00:33:33.890 --> 00:33:36.029
about living with Blackwell in the Phantasma

00:33:36.029 --> 00:33:38.430
Manor without all the hauntings and the devils

00:33:38.430 --> 00:33:41.690
and stuff. Because she likes the vibe. She likes

00:33:41.690 --> 00:33:45.819
the vibe. It's not the scaries. Yeah. But when

00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:48.180
she gets into the room, she literally bumps physically

00:33:48.180 --> 00:33:50.940
into Cade and he tells her quote, you can set

00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:53.200
your demon friends on me all you want you bitch,

00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:55.279
but I promise one of these nights I'll be getting

00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:00.920
the final laugh. Okay. Okay. Great. Can't wait.

00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:04.140
I have to say that like every interaction that

00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:06.960
Ophelia has that's like tensioned like this,

00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.280
she does have good comebacks, which I appreciated.

00:34:09.380 --> 00:34:11.820
She wasn't, she's not like intimidated by this

00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:14.340
guy. No, not at all. And it's very satisfying.

00:34:14.590 --> 00:34:16.550
And I think it gets under his skin, which just

00:34:16.550 --> 00:34:21.809
makes me happy too. Exactly. When the next trial

00:34:21.809 --> 00:34:23.489
starts and Ophelia steps through the portal,

00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:26.170
she finds herself in a giant cage suspended above

00:34:26.170 --> 00:34:30.889
an ocean of boiling lava. Terrifying. Terrifying.

00:34:31.670 --> 00:34:33.949
She sees a chain just outside the bars and she

00:34:33.949 --> 00:34:35.909
tries to grab it to pull herself up the chain,

00:34:36.289 --> 00:34:39.610
but it's boiling hot and she burns her hand very

00:34:39.610 --> 00:34:43.090
badly. Oh, it's so gross. It's so gross. When

00:34:43.090 --> 00:34:45.190
she overcomes the pain and calms the internal

00:34:45.190 --> 00:34:47.670
panic, this is when she summons Blackwell, which

00:34:47.670 --> 00:34:52.289
like, girl, do it immediately. Also, do it immediately.

00:34:52.429 --> 00:34:55.489
And every so often, her cage is sinking. Yep.

00:34:57.110 --> 00:34:59.170
When he appears, he tells her that she has to

00:34:59.170 --> 00:35:01.650
pull herself up the rock wall that she can reach

00:35:01.650 --> 00:35:03.769
just outside the bars of the cage. And as she

00:35:03.769 --> 00:35:06.050
goes up, other contestants will go down. That's

00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:10.840
why hers is going down. periodically in the rock

00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:13.579
wall, she'll find a golden cuff and she can either

00:35:13.579 --> 00:35:15.739
choose to keep that golden cuff and then she

00:35:15.739 --> 00:35:17.260
can retain the gold if she makes it out of the

00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:19.019
challenge alive or she can cuff it around the

00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:20.599
chain and that will make the other contestants

00:35:20.599 --> 00:35:23.619
go down while sending her up faster. And thus

00:35:23.619 --> 00:35:25.900
we learn that this is the challenge of greed,

00:35:26.179 --> 00:35:27.599
which is a little bit confusing because there's

00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.199
another challenge later of gluttony and they're

00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:32.559
very similar with the gold thing. Yeah, they're

00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:37.659
very similar. And like I kind of get it because

00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:39.500
it's like revenge. I don't know. We'll talk about

00:35:39.500 --> 00:35:42.019
it when we get there. Yeah, but I didn't like

00:35:42.019 --> 00:35:43.800
the gluttony one I wasn't sold on. It didn't

00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:46.219
really make sense to me in the terms of that

00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:50.579
being a sin. So as she goes through the challenge,

00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:52.579
her hand is basically useless and the other one

00:35:52.579 --> 00:35:54.880
gets completely mauled as she climbs up the rock.

00:35:57.260 --> 00:35:59.300
Then when she finds a gold cuff and puts it around

00:35:59.300 --> 00:36:01.079
her chain, she hears the screams of one of the

00:36:01.079 --> 00:36:03.039
other contestants being lowered and her shadow

00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:05.969
voice calls her a murderer. It tells her, quote,

00:36:05.989 --> 00:36:08.010
if you knock on the rock three times, you're

00:36:08.010 --> 00:36:11.170
going to resolve yourself of murder. And it makes

00:36:11.170 --> 00:36:13.769
her do this again and again and again until literally

00:36:13.769 --> 00:36:15.949
her knuckles split and are getting more and more

00:36:15.949 --> 00:36:18.309
bloody. And Blackwell finally has to cut through

00:36:18.309 --> 00:36:20.849
her internal monologue and pull her out of it.

00:36:22.869 --> 00:36:25.110
When he does so, he asks her who the shadow voice

00:36:25.110 --> 00:36:27.710
is. And she says, quote, I don't know. Sometimes

00:36:27.710 --> 00:36:29.929
I think it's me, all the bad parts of me. But

00:36:29.929 --> 00:36:32.070
the things it tells me to do, I know I would

00:36:32.070 --> 00:36:35.760
never want those things. I hate it. And that's

00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:38.699
where I feel like maybe it is supernatural. Right.

00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.199
Because it's so counter to who she thinks she

00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:43.320
is. But I also think that it's interesting because

00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:45.780
she does kind of like walk this line of like

00:36:45.780 --> 00:36:50.280
very deep self hatred because of the way that

00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:52.280
she was raised. So like, but I don't I don't

00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:54.099
know if that's real because she also has this

00:36:54.099 --> 00:36:57.800
like very innate confidence. Yeah, it's really

00:36:57.800 --> 00:36:59.300
strange. I don't know how much of that is like

00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:03.880
earned and how much of it is fake. Right. So

00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:06.960
it's hard to tell. Don't know it I could see

00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:08.980
it going both ways and you're further along than

00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:11.519
me And so I'm interested to see if we get a solid

00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:14.300
answer to that or not Yeah, and I still don't

00:37:14.300 --> 00:37:16.199
I still don't know with where I'm at like we

00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:18.340
get a little bit more about it But I still don't

00:37:18.340 --> 00:37:22.739
have an answer. Yeah So anyway on the edge of

00:37:22.739 --> 00:37:25.559
exhaustion Ophelia finishes the challenge pulling

00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:27.519
herself through the portal at the top of the

00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:30.400
rock wall on The other side Blackwell immediately

00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:32.699
teleports her to her room and heals her wounds

00:37:33.050 --> 00:37:35.190
As her mind clears from the pain, Blackwell again

00:37:35.190 --> 00:37:37.170
asks about the shadow voice, but she really does

00:37:37.170 --> 00:37:40.090
not want to talk about it. She does open up and

00:37:40.090 --> 00:37:41.929
say that it's easy for her to listen to this

00:37:41.929 --> 00:37:45.170
inner saboteur when she's so closely tied to

00:37:45.170 --> 00:37:49.010
death and othered by most people. That's fair.

00:37:50.070 --> 00:37:51.829
But she again asks that they talk about something

00:37:51.829 --> 00:37:53.570
else because she just wants to feel good right

00:37:53.570 --> 00:37:56.309
now. So Blackwell takes that opportunity to say,

00:37:56.429 --> 00:37:59.599
quote, I want you to let me see you. All of you.

00:37:59.659 --> 00:38:01.500
There is nothing I've seen yet that has made

00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:04.139
me look away. I want to see all the darkest corners

00:38:04.139 --> 00:38:09.179
of your mind. I want to taste your sins. I love

00:38:09.179 --> 00:38:12.800
it. And okay, so especially the I want to taste

00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:16.019
your sins thing like feels like something that

00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:19.639
the Prince of Hell could say and mean. Yeah,

00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:24.539
it does. Yes, it does. Yeah. So on the heels

00:38:24.539 --> 00:38:26.900
of that proclamation, they have a scene together.

00:38:26.900 --> 00:38:29.400
And at the end, it's clear that Ophelia has begun

00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:32.559
to fall in love with Blackwell. Whoopsie, whoopsies.

00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:35.639
And she it doesn't bother me that much. But there's

00:38:35.639 --> 00:38:40.119
so many points in this book that like. She does

00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:43.159
the whole like, I won't say I'm in love, but

00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:45.639
she's having the whole monologue over and over

00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:47.320
about like how she has feelings for him, but

00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:49.980
I won't say it. And so. To the point about the

00:38:49.980 --> 00:38:51.260
curse, which we haven't gotten to yet, but we've

00:38:51.260 --> 00:38:53.639
alluded to, is it when you feel it or when you

00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:56.139
admit it? Because if you just never admit it.

00:38:57.340 --> 00:38:59.519
That's a nice loophole, because even before,

00:38:59.860 --> 00:39:02.179
I mean, we get more into it in part three, but

00:39:02.179 --> 00:39:05.960
at the beginning of the competition, Jasper was

00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:08.119
like, don't fall in love and fantasize about

00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:13.059
your own risk. OK, cool. If you're getting close,

00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:15.559
like what is the line that we're crossing here?

00:39:16.239 --> 00:39:23.030
Exactly. I don't know. So in post -coital bliss,

00:39:23.369 --> 00:39:25.250
Ophelia sleeps for a little bit. And when she

00:39:25.250 --> 00:39:27.250
wakes up, she finds Blackwell going through the

00:39:27.250 --> 00:39:29.769
pages of the contestant logs. They end up going

00:39:29.769 --> 00:39:31.610
to the drinking parlor again and go through a

00:39:31.610 --> 00:39:33.610
couple of the entries that Blackwell noted with

00:39:33.610 --> 00:39:36.329
the name Gabriel. But Ophelia waffles on the

00:39:36.329 --> 00:39:38.449
importance of this information saying that Genevieve

00:39:38.449 --> 00:39:40.889
is really the key now because Gabriel, without

00:39:40.889 --> 00:39:43.010
a last name, isn't very helpful. She doesn't

00:39:43.010 --> 00:39:45.750
have more information than that. She admits that

00:39:45.750 --> 00:39:47.429
she didn't think that she and her sister were

00:39:47.429 --> 00:39:49.710
this much at odds, and she doesn't really know

00:39:49.710 --> 00:39:52.670
how to deal with that. Blackwell offers her a

00:39:52.670 --> 00:39:55.190
drink and she takes it. But this makes her think

00:39:55.190 --> 00:39:56.849
about all the other things that are on her plate,

00:39:56.929 --> 00:39:58.969
all the other problems that she has to solve.

00:39:59.409 --> 00:40:03.349
And she ends up drinking until she's drunk. Really?

00:40:03.389 --> 00:40:06.110
She has like six glasses of whiskey or something.

00:40:06.530 --> 00:40:10.190
Yeah, like rapid fire. Yeah, like she's impounding

00:40:10.190 --> 00:40:12.469
drinks in this scene. And I wanted to be like,

00:40:12.510 --> 00:40:16.449
Blackwell, no. like her off come on it feels

00:40:16.449 --> 00:40:19.389
like she's never she doesn't outright say that

00:40:19.389 --> 00:40:21.070
she's never been drunk or had alcohol but it

00:40:21.070 --> 00:40:24.900
feels like this is her first time Yeah, it does.

00:40:25.260 --> 00:40:27.800
And it also gave me anxiety, because if you don't

00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:29.360
make it on time for the trial, you're disqualified.

00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:31.380
I'm like, do you really want her showing up hungover?

00:40:31.420 --> 00:40:35.099
What are you doing? Yeah, she doesn't have a

00:40:35.099 --> 00:40:38.280
weekend to get back at it. No. And can you heal

00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:40.019
a hangover? Because it turns out, I don't think

00:40:40.019 --> 00:40:42.820
he can. I don't think he can. He gives her some

00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:46.340
water, and he's like, I've heard it helps. Have

00:40:46.340 --> 00:40:50.239
fun with that. Yeah, I mean, so to that point,

00:40:50.260 --> 00:40:51.739
he just kind of lays her on the couch and tells

00:40:51.739 --> 00:40:54.440
her to sleep it off, which she kind of does,

00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:59.300
I guess. When she wakes up, she's hung over and

00:40:59.300 --> 00:41:02.579
the next trial is looming. But Blackwell's still

00:41:02.579 --> 00:41:05.719
there. So she asks whether he behaved like this

00:41:05.719 --> 00:41:07.179
with any of the other contestants that he made

00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:10.019
a deal with. And this is when he says that there

00:41:10.019 --> 00:41:12.119
were only a couple that he kissed and he never

00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:17.050
fucked anybody else before. But then what is

00:41:17.050 --> 00:41:21.409
Jasper talking about right? What is and and is

00:41:21.409 --> 00:41:24.929
not and it should be Noted that's not just Jasper

00:41:24.929 --> 00:41:27.030
that implies that like Jasper is the one that

00:41:27.030 --> 00:41:29.969
says it like that distinctly But later when we

00:41:29.969 --> 00:41:32.389
talked to Sinclair and we also talked to this

00:41:32.389 --> 00:41:37.050
other demon Rhea like They all say basically

00:41:37.050 --> 00:41:40.230
the same thing Yeah, so what are they talking

00:41:40.230 --> 00:41:43.849
about? Yeah, so either this is a conspiracy or

00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:46.960
They're not lying. Or the only other thing I

00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:50.280
could think is that maybe, so we haven't gotten

00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:54.380
to it yet, but we will, about her parents. Maybe

00:41:54.380 --> 00:41:57.019
he's made deals with contestants that have fallen

00:41:57.019 --> 00:42:00.000
in love, so he's been closely connected to that.

00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:03.519
Maybe. But that would be far less interesting.

00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:07.380
If he's just seen it happen a lot of times and

00:42:07.380 --> 00:42:10.139
knows better ostensibly. But I don't think that's

00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:12.389
what they're implying. I don't think that's what

00:42:12.389 --> 00:42:14.690
they're implying either. And I'm also waiting

00:42:14.690 --> 00:42:16.989
for the prologue to come back and bite us in

00:42:16.989 --> 00:42:27.269
the ass. I know. So stay tuned, I guess. Yeah.

00:42:29.750 --> 00:42:31.909
So they go on to talk, and this is when Blackwell

00:42:31.909 --> 00:42:33.949
says that the next trial is based on gluttony

00:42:33.949 --> 00:42:35.969
and it has something to do with colors and chains.

00:42:36.429 --> 00:42:38.329
But their conversation is interrupted by another

00:42:38.329 --> 00:42:41.090
devil appearing, and this one's named Sinclair.

00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:44.780
Blackwell and Sinclair clearly do not get along.

00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:47.320
Sinclair immediately zeroes in on Ophelia as

00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:50.380
someone important to Blackwell and exploits that.

00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:53.260
He goads Blackwell into punching him and then

00:42:53.260 --> 00:42:55.199
immediately teleports Blackwell out of the room

00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:57.780
and then prevents him from getting back in. But

00:42:57.780 --> 00:43:00.079
Ophelia can hear Blackwell banging on the door

00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:05.199
trying to get back in. So Ophelia is trapped

00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:09.960
in the drinking parlor with Sinclair and Sinclair

00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:13.550
offers Ophelia a deal. She should forfeit the

00:43:13.550 --> 00:43:15.869
competition and in return He will grant her a

00:43:15.869 --> 00:43:17.869
single favor and he gives an example of being

00:43:17.869 --> 00:43:21.369
able to tell her exactly where her sister is

00:43:21.369 --> 00:43:25.030
Ophelia's like look dude. No one also. Why do

00:43:25.030 --> 00:43:28.969
you care so much? Why do you care because it's

00:43:28.969 --> 00:43:31.989
like Do you care about her winning or do you

00:43:31.989 --> 00:43:34.690
care about her helping Blackwell or both? Also,

00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:36.369
I'm glad that she doesn't fall for this or even

00:43:36.369 --> 00:43:39.190
really think about it because just to be fair

00:43:39.469 --> 00:43:41.429
um if we're thinking about deals with devils

00:43:41.429 --> 00:43:44.050
knowing where Genevieve is doesn't do anything

00:43:44.050 --> 00:43:47.670
to help her no it's a terrible deal right my

00:43:47.670 --> 00:43:49.690
deal would be like okay bring Genevieve back

00:43:49.690 --> 00:43:52.530
to me right here alive yeah and let us both leave

00:43:52.530 --> 00:43:57.469
safely right so even though Sinclair doesn't

00:43:57.469 --> 00:44:00.349
ask answer that specific question Ophelia puts

00:44:00.349 --> 00:44:02.570
together that he knows where Blackwell's key

00:44:02.570 --> 00:44:04.610
is and must know more about Blackwell himself

00:44:04.610 --> 00:44:06.650
and doesn't want Blackwell to figure that out.

00:44:07.110 --> 00:44:09.170
She puts it together that she's finding enough

00:44:09.170 --> 00:44:11.369
new information that Sinclair sees her as a threat

00:44:11.369 --> 00:44:15.269
and he wants to end that progress. But why does

00:44:15.269 --> 00:44:19.550
he care? Right. So Ophelia tells Sinclair to

00:44:19.550 --> 00:44:21.590
fuck off and in response he tells her to ask

00:44:21.590 --> 00:44:23.750
Blackwell about a specific page of the contestant

00:44:23.750 --> 00:44:26.090
logs and why Blackwell didn't show it to her.

00:44:27.159 --> 00:44:29.159
As soon as Sinclair teleports out of the room,

00:44:29.380 --> 00:44:30.780
Blackwell is able to go through the door and

00:44:30.780 --> 00:44:33.159
join her, and she immediately asks him about

00:44:33.159 --> 00:44:36.780
said page. On that page, she sees not only the

00:44:36.780 --> 00:44:39.659
name Gabriel White, but also the name Tessie

00:44:39.659 --> 00:44:41.920
Grimm, which you'll remember is her mother's

00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:45.480
name. Guess we found Gabriel. Guess we found

00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:48.599
Mom. Like, what the fuck? Yeah, right. Excuse

00:44:48.599 --> 00:44:52.599
me. So she's reeling from this information and

00:44:52.599 --> 00:44:55.719
asks Blackwell why he didn't tell her this. He

00:44:55.719 --> 00:44:57.400
tells her that she's he was trying to find more

00:44:57.400 --> 00:44:59.639
time to tell her that the reason why she felt

00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:02.719
so familiar to him is because of Gabriel White.

00:45:03.099 --> 00:45:05.199
He made a deal with Gabriel White many years

00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:10.340
ago, and Gabriel is her father. So. Cool, cool,

00:45:10.340 --> 00:45:15.460
cool. I didn't. Like that he knew when he was

00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:17.380
hiding it from her, like he's like dog earring

00:45:17.380 --> 00:45:19.360
pages for her. I think it would have been more

00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:21.300
I mean, I don't I still understand why he's lying,

00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:22.619
but I think it would have been more interesting

00:45:22.619 --> 00:45:25.570
if he didn't remember Gabriel. Until this moment.

00:45:25.570 --> 00:45:27.170
Yeah, like he like they look at the page together

00:45:27.170 --> 00:45:32.869
and he's like, oh, oh, I do know Gabriel. Now,

00:45:32.869 --> 00:45:35.210
now that we're talking about it, I do know Gabriel.

00:45:35.250 --> 00:45:36.789
Yeah, I think it would have been more interesting,

00:45:36.949 --> 00:45:38.949
too, because even when she first asked him if

00:45:38.949 --> 00:45:40.969
he knew a Gabriel, he kind of tensed up a little

00:45:40.969 --> 00:45:43.690
bit. Yes. Like, why are you hiding this? And

00:45:43.690 --> 00:45:46.170
like the answer he gives is not it's like I was

00:45:46.170 --> 00:45:47.650
trying to tell you how to tell you. I'm like,

00:45:48.090 --> 00:45:51.949
I. Why do you think that that's OK? One, why

00:45:51.949 --> 00:45:54.800
do you think that's new information to me? Yeah

00:45:54.800 --> 00:45:57.659
to like why why are you so anxious about this

00:45:57.659 --> 00:46:00.820
because even so he tells her that Gabriel was

00:46:00.820 --> 00:46:05.059
a specter which put a pin in that and Like the

00:46:05.059 --> 00:46:07.900
deal was during Gabriel's second attempt at the

00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:10.460
competition which he lost But Blackwell's not

00:46:10.460 --> 00:46:12.739
sure why that happened because he said quote

00:46:12.739 --> 00:46:14.599
halfway through the trials Gabriel stopped summoning

00:46:14.599 --> 00:46:16.880
me and I lost track of him entirely What was

00:46:16.880 --> 00:46:18.519
abundantly clear by the end however was that

00:46:18.519 --> 00:46:22.119
he had lost? So there's a couple of things about

00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:25.699
this that I find interesting. One, Gabriel did

00:46:25.699 --> 00:46:28.360
it twice. Yeah, so he must have forfeited the

00:46:28.360 --> 00:46:31.099
first time. Right. Or one. And then the second

00:46:31.099 --> 00:46:34.920
thing is that like what was abundantly clear

00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:36.760
at the end was that he had lost. So did Gabriel

00:46:36.760 --> 00:46:39.900
die? Yeah, the law that I was trying to figure

00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:42.119
out if he died or not. But I feel like the more

00:46:42.119 --> 00:46:44.519
information we get later about Gabriel and Tessie,

00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:47.340
I was like, did he die? Because it doesn't if

00:46:47.340 --> 00:46:50.619
he died. Tessie wouldn't have had to do the thing

00:46:50.619 --> 00:46:53.880
she does. You know what I mean? Yeah. So what

00:46:53.880 --> 00:46:56.420
does that mean? Unless this is all talking about

00:46:56.420 --> 00:47:00.719
the curse. I don't know. Like that's maybe lost.

00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:04.139
But I want more information on that. I do, too.

00:47:04.280 --> 00:47:08.199
And I don't like I don't understand one why Blackwell

00:47:08.199 --> 00:47:10.400
would specifically remember this Gabriel over

00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:13.420
other Gabriels. Yeah. And why that would be such

00:47:13.420 --> 00:47:17.949
a problem every game. Right. And like This just

00:47:17.949 --> 00:47:19.610
seems like a failure. Like I don't know why this

00:47:19.610 --> 00:47:23.550
is something that he's like trying to figure

00:47:23.550 --> 00:47:26.050
out how to tell her, you know? Yeah, I don't

00:47:26.050 --> 00:47:27.650
I mean the only and there's not even really any

00:47:27.650 --> 00:47:30.269
betrayal in here that like he is an immortal

00:47:30.269 --> 00:47:33.650
being who makes Deals like once a month or once

00:47:33.650 --> 00:47:37.090
a year whenever this happens for eternity, right?

00:47:38.230 --> 00:47:40.289
It's not his fault. He didn't know you existed.

00:47:40.869 --> 00:47:44.030
No The other thing about this I said put a pen

00:47:44.030 --> 00:47:46.769
in specter because like I I wish we got more

00:47:46.769 --> 00:47:48.469
information about this and like granted neither

00:47:48.469 --> 00:47:51.590
of us have finished the book, but like he says

00:47:51.590 --> 00:47:55.630
specter and Ophelia is just like oh bet and like

00:47:55.630 --> 00:47:58.670
we get no information and even we were referencing

00:47:58.670 --> 00:48:00.909
the hierarchy of paranormal beings in the beginning

00:48:00.909 --> 00:48:03.769
of this book and Like we get some information

00:48:03.769 --> 00:48:07.519
on some like ghosts, but Specters are just lumped

00:48:07.519 --> 00:48:10.159
into this category of mortal paranormal beings,

00:48:10.480 --> 00:48:12.139
along with witches, seers, and necromancers,

00:48:12.219 --> 00:48:15.099
which I wouldn't have a problem with if, like

00:48:15.099 --> 00:48:17.880
necromancers, seers, and witches, I had a scent

00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:20.579
memory for what a specter is in this instant,

00:48:20.619 --> 00:48:24.300
but I don't. No. My only scent memory for a specter

00:48:24.300 --> 00:48:26.659
is just a ghost, which is clearly not what it

00:48:26.659 --> 00:48:31.269
is in this world. Right. But. I wish we had more

00:48:31.269 --> 00:48:33.170
information. And I honestly, I don't know if

00:48:33.170 --> 00:48:34.670
we're going to get any more because like we have

00:48:34.670 --> 00:48:37.170
this reveal and then we'll get to the curse later.

00:48:37.170 --> 00:48:38.949
But then it's like we never talk about our parents

00:48:38.949 --> 00:48:42.250
again. I know. Yeah. I don't even know why it

00:48:42.250 --> 00:48:46.050
matters. I don't know why it matters either yet.

00:48:46.050 --> 00:48:49.710
I mean, I don't know. The thing that Liz and

00:48:49.710 --> 00:48:52.809
I kind of landed on at like during our debrief

00:48:52.809 --> 00:48:56.210
is that maybe specters are just like like a witch.

00:48:56.269 --> 00:48:58.070
But the only thing they can do is do that invisible

00:48:58.070 --> 00:49:02.059
thing that Ophelia can do. They just have magic

00:49:02.059 --> 00:49:08.380
that makes them kind of ghosty. Yeah. Sure. Because

00:49:08.380 --> 00:49:11.119
Blackwell does go on to say that her disappearing

00:49:11.119 --> 00:49:14.099
act comes from her father, because he was a specter.

00:49:14.300 --> 00:49:16.719
So maybe that's it. I just wish, what else do

00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:19.960
they, like what? Give us a little bit of, give

00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:25.420
us a blurb. Yeah, what else is there? Yeah. What's

00:49:25.420 --> 00:49:27.480
also unclear in this is that Blackwell says that

00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:29.460
he suspects that Tessie and Gabriel met each

00:49:29.460 --> 00:49:31.619
other during their first phantasma experience.

00:49:31.960 --> 00:49:34.119
But now I have questions on whether they both

00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:36.340
did it a second time or if it was just Gabriel.

00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:42.000
Yeah, or if the second time was... Oh no, it

00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.219
was during both of their firsts. Okay. Yeah,

00:49:44.219 --> 00:49:46.900
I don't know. And did Blackwell make a deal with

00:49:46.900 --> 00:49:50.800
Gabriel both times? Or just the second time?

00:49:51.079 --> 00:49:55.650
Yeah. So Ophelia is still processing all this

00:49:55.650 --> 00:49:57.969
information, much like we are, and asks for space.

00:49:58.030 --> 00:49:59.889
But she does say that she understands where Blackwell

00:49:59.889 --> 00:50:02.110
is coming from. Blackwell is relieved because

00:50:02.110 --> 00:50:04.329
he knows that this is Sinclair's attempt to prevent

00:50:04.329 --> 00:50:06.829
him from finding out how to release himself from

00:50:06.829 --> 00:50:08.929
Phantasma, and he doesn't want to fuck it up.

00:50:09.489 --> 00:50:11.389
He shares that any time he's gotten close to

00:50:11.389 --> 00:50:13.329
figuring out the mystery of his imprisonment,

00:50:13.469 --> 00:50:15.809
Sinclair intervenes and makes sure that Blackwell

00:50:15.809 --> 00:50:19.670
fails. Why? Does Sinclair care? Why are you so

00:50:19.670 --> 00:50:21.489
obsessed with me? Why are you so obsessed with

00:50:21.489 --> 00:50:24.219
me? Maybe Sinclair is the one that Blackwell

00:50:24.219 --> 00:50:29.500
was in love with. Ooh. Make it gay. Make it gay.

00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:32.940
I like it. Or make it, yeah. Ooh. No, it's not

00:50:32.940 --> 00:50:35.980
going to happen. That's not what it is. Oh, boo.

00:50:38.280 --> 00:50:40.940
So the trial of gluttony is here. And as they

00:50:40.940 --> 00:50:42.820
wait in the dining room, Ophelia notices that

00:50:42.820 --> 00:50:45.179
their numbers are dwindling. Jasper is the one

00:50:45.179 --> 00:50:47.460
who puts on this trial, and Ophelia steps in

00:50:47.460 --> 00:50:50.269
first. When she steps in, she finds that she's

00:50:50.269 --> 00:50:52.989
in a room with levers on the opposite end of

00:50:52.989 --> 00:50:55.829
the wall and shortly the other contestants join

00:50:55.829 --> 00:50:59.190
her. Once everybody's there a collar is put around

00:50:59.190 --> 00:51:01.610
their neck with chains that are connected to

00:51:01.610 --> 00:51:04.070
the opposite wall so they can only walk in a

00:51:04.070 --> 00:51:09.010
straight line. So the trial starts and there

00:51:09.010 --> 00:51:11.070
are three gold bars that appear that people can

00:51:11.070 --> 00:51:14.050
like physically grab I guess and then once they're

00:51:14.050 --> 00:51:16.449
taken anyone who steps forward after that like

00:51:16.449 --> 00:51:19.119
triggers something bad to happen like literal

00:51:19.119 --> 00:51:24.480
swinging axes from the ceiling. Bad. Yeah, which

00:51:24.480 --> 00:51:26.760
is terrifying. This room sounds like a hell pit.

00:51:27.179 --> 00:51:30.599
It does sound like a hell pit. One girl does

00:51:30.599 --> 00:51:33.400
this. So she summons the bad things and she does

00:51:33.400 --> 00:51:35.460
it so much that she almost dies and she summons

00:51:35.460 --> 00:51:38.679
the demon to make a deal and be let go. So I

00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:41.199
until this trial, I didn't realize I thought

00:51:41.199 --> 00:51:43.739
there was a rule at the start of the book. that

00:51:43.739 --> 00:51:45.920
you could only be released, like you could only

00:51:45.920 --> 00:51:48.000
forfeit outside of the trials. Like I thought

00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:50.380
once you were in the trial, it was like death

00:51:50.380 --> 00:51:53.099
or you survived. But I guess you could make a

00:51:53.099 --> 00:51:56.000
devil deal. And I didn't remember that being

00:51:56.000 --> 00:51:58.440
true before. So when they're all yelling at her,

00:51:58.500 --> 00:52:00.159
like, call the devil and like, blah, blah, blah.

00:52:00.239 --> 00:52:01.840
I was like, oh, she has a deal with someone.

00:52:01.860 --> 00:52:03.500
And they're like reminding her to like summon

00:52:03.500 --> 00:52:05.420
your helper lady. But like, that's not what's

00:52:05.420 --> 00:52:07.239
happening here. And I was just a little confused.

00:52:08.440 --> 00:52:12.679
No, I think the what I've kind of. Intuit it

00:52:12.679 --> 00:52:15.539
is that if you do that, you get like a raw deal

00:52:15.539 --> 00:52:17.659
like you have to do something or give something

00:52:17.659 --> 00:52:20.139
you don't want to do. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a

00:52:20.139 --> 00:52:22.519
great deal. That makes sense. But it did make

00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:25.119
me think of the fact that it hasn't come up.

00:52:25.780 --> 00:52:30.820
But what's to stop? Others from making deals

00:52:30.820 --> 00:52:33.559
like Blackwell makes deals all the time like

00:52:33.559 --> 00:52:35.719
he could have multiple deals or like everyone

00:52:35.719 --> 00:52:37.659
else could have deals. And I just didn't really

00:52:37.659 --> 00:52:40.269
think about that before. That's what I was wondering

00:52:40.269 --> 00:52:44.630
about Lucy is like whether she is supernatural

00:52:44.630 --> 00:52:48.030
her herself or if she made a deal. Yeah, I was

00:52:48.030 --> 00:52:49.409
wondering that too. And like maybe that's like

00:52:49.409 --> 00:52:54.849
the healing or whatever. So this is one of the

00:52:54.849 --> 00:52:58.130
trials where it feels like it takes Ophelia far

00:52:58.130 --> 00:53:00.510
too fucking long to summon Blackwell because

00:53:00.510 --> 00:53:02.289
it's like all this shit is happening and she's

00:53:02.289 --> 00:53:06.610
just like, and I'm like, girl. Summon your helper.

00:53:07.449 --> 00:53:10.559
Right. It's so annoying. I also don't like that

00:53:10.559 --> 00:53:13.039
she starts, it's not in this trial, but I think

00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:15.960
it's the next trial where she starts to intentionally

00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:17.780
not summon Blackwell because she's like, well,

00:53:17.800 --> 00:53:19.219
I'm coming to the end of my bargain and I got

00:53:19.219 --> 00:53:21.219
to learn how to figure it out myself. And I'm

00:53:21.219 --> 00:53:22.920
like, you don't. Not right now. You don't though.

00:53:23.019 --> 00:53:25.199
You should milk it for all it's worth. Yeah.

00:53:25.579 --> 00:53:28.239
It's just because she's mad at him. It's so stupid.

00:53:28.519 --> 00:53:34.119
I know. Use him. We'll get to it. Use him. But

00:53:34.119 --> 00:53:36.380
she eventually does summon Blackwell and she

00:53:36.380 --> 00:53:38.219
uses her invisibility phantom thing to get out

00:53:38.219 --> 00:53:40.079
of her collar and move freely Which is like a

00:53:40.079 --> 00:53:44.320
big advantage in this particular challenge So

00:53:44.320 --> 00:53:46.260
Blackwell helps her move around the board and

00:53:46.260 --> 00:53:49.559
avoid different perils and as she does she sees

00:53:49.559 --> 00:53:52.340
Cade get to the end the wall with like the switches

00:53:52.340 --> 00:53:55.360
and the levers and This is when we learned that

00:53:55.360 --> 00:53:57.539
there are their names the contestants names and

00:53:57.539 --> 00:53:59.280
there are two switches under each one of them

00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:03.000
One with a check and one with an X And so Blackwell

00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:05.119
tells her that the one with the check will give

00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:08.380
the person an advantage in the next trial and

00:54:08.380 --> 00:54:10.300
the one with the X will give the person a disadvantage

00:54:10.300 --> 00:54:13.000
in the next trial. And if both of those switches

00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.059
are flipped, then they'll cancel each other out.

00:54:15.320 --> 00:54:18.920
So she sees Cade flick his advantage and flick

00:54:18.920 --> 00:54:22.280
her disadvantage. And this is the only thing

00:54:22.280 --> 00:54:26.539
that kind of gets to gluttony, sort of, or like,

00:54:26.619 --> 00:54:30.400
but it's really more greed. Like. I guess. the

00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:32.239
glutton part of like, I'm going to make everybody

00:54:32.239 --> 00:54:35.380
have a disadvantage, but it wasn't it didn't

00:54:35.380 --> 00:54:37.039
really land for me. It was a really cool trial.

00:54:37.039 --> 00:54:39.340
I was here for like the action, but it didn't

00:54:39.340 --> 00:54:42.820
land for the theme. Yeah, I wanted it. We had

00:54:42.820 --> 00:54:44.300
talked about this in the debrief. It would have

00:54:44.300 --> 00:54:46.019
been I know it's a little bit on the nose, but

00:54:46.019 --> 00:54:49.659
like something to do with being consumed or consuming.

00:54:50.500 --> 00:54:52.460
I almost feel like the blood loss would be more

00:54:52.460 --> 00:54:55.369
of like a gluttony thing. Right. Yeah. Oh, that

00:54:55.369 --> 00:54:56.050
would have been interesting. But I don't know

00:54:56.050 --> 00:55:01.670
how you make sex scary. OK, I take that back.

00:55:01.690 --> 00:55:03.690
It can be really scary, and I don't want to read

00:55:03.690 --> 00:55:07.610
that kind of book. No. Yeah. It just didn't feel

00:55:07.610 --> 00:55:10.849
like Gluttony to me. Yeah, you could be vampire.

00:55:10.989 --> 00:55:15.389
You could make vampires very scary, but it felt

00:55:15.389 --> 00:55:19.389
almost identical in nature and in tone to the

00:55:19.389 --> 00:55:24.460
greed challenge. Exactly. So since Kate gave

00:55:24.460 --> 00:55:26.400
her a disadvantage, Ophelia is determined to

00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:28.380
give herself an advantage and cancel that out

00:55:28.380 --> 00:55:30.840
before she leaves this trial. But on her way

00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:32.599
to the switches, she's intercepted by another

00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:35.739
contestant, one of Kate's lackeys, Eric. It's

00:55:35.739 --> 00:55:38.780
clear that Eric is trying to kill her, so something,

00:55:38.840 --> 00:55:41.880
a switch, flips in her head. Get it? See what

00:55:41.880 --> 00:55:45.500
I did there? I like that. And she decides to

00:55:45.500 --> 00:55:47.800
kill Eric by leading him into one of the swinging

00:55:47.800 --> 00:55:52.300
blades, which she does successfully. It's ruthless.

00:55:52.679 --> 00:55:57.719
Yeah. So after this, she's shaken, but Blackwell

00:55:57.719 --> 00:56:00.079
urges her to keep moving for the challenge. She's

00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:02.679
able to flick both her advantage switch as well

00:56:02.679 --> 00:56:06.179
as Cade's disadvantage switch. So they both have

00:56:06.179 --> 00:56:09.119
nulled, nullified disadvantages and advantages.

00:56:09.280 --> 00:56:12.300
I feel like I'm talking in like, like Dungeons

00:56:12.300 --> 00:56:14.920
and Dragons speak over here. That's what it sounds

00:56:14.920 --> 00:56:17.760
like, but it's true. It's just a straight roll.

00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:22.719
It's a straight roll. Roll for charisma. When

00:56:22.719 --> 00:56:24.579
she exits this challenge she gets back to the

00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:26.659
dining room and sees Lucy with a really nasty

00:56:26.659 --> 00:56:30.179
gash and it's far too healed. She's like if that

00:56:30.179 --> 00:56:33.480
came from one of the axes like you wouldn't be

00:56:33.480 --> 00:56:36.780
fine right now. You wouldn't have an arm. Yeah

00:56:36.780 --> 00:56:38.679
and this is when she begins to suspect that there's

00:56:38.679 --> 00:56:41.719
something more to Lucy. Lucy tells Ophelia that

00:56:41.719 --> 00:56:44.119
she's waiting for Leon and Ophelia admits that

00:56:44.119 --> 00:56:46.719
she killed another contestant. when Ophelia makes

00:56:46.719 --> 00:56:48.980
mention of Lucy's wound Lucy asks her not to

00:56:48.980 --> 00:56:51.619
tell anyone and Ophelia says honestly quote what

00:56:51.619 --> 00:56:54.940
would there be to tell so I don't know if Lucy

00:56:54.940 --> 00:56:58.159
is a paranormal being or if she made a deal I

00:56:58.159 --> 00:57:00.360
know and I couldn't tell if Ophelia knew because

00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:02.940
it kind of seemed like Ophelia understood it

00:57:02.940 --> 00:57:05.619
off the bat and just didn't tell us and was like

00:57:05.619 --> 00:57:08.659
what would I possibly tell like wink wink I know

00:57:08.659 --> 00:57:11.019
or was like girl I don't know what the fuck's

00:57:11.019 --> 00:57:12.960
going on with you what am I gonna tell I haven't

00:57:12.960 --> 00:57:15.380
seen that before in my life Yeah, she's because

00:57:15.380 --> 00:57:18.039
like her wound is this weird, like opalescent

00:57:18.039 --> 00:57:21.139
sheen. Mm hmm. And I really hope we get an answer

00:57:21.139 --> 00:57:25.420
to that, because whenever Blackwell has healed

00:57:25.420 --> 00:57:27.920
Ophelia, there's no mention of like her wounds

00:57:27.920 --> 00:57:31.099
looking different. No. What is this? It's not

00:57:31.099 --> 00:57:34.179
like his magic has like a visible component.

00:57:34.760 --> 00:57:37.739
No. So like, is it a deal? I don't know. I want

00:57:37.739 --> 00:57:42.860
to find out. Yeah, I want to find out, too. But

00:57:42.860 --> 00:57:47.579
we don't find out in part two, so. So when Ophelia

00:57:47.579 --> 00:57:49.920
gets back to her room, she takes a searing hot

00:57:49.920 --> 00:57:52.039
bath. And then without getting dressed, she summons

00:57:52.039 --> 00:57:57.559
Blackwell. Balzy. I like it. I liked it. Once

00:57:57.559 --> 00:58:00.139
he arrives, she asks him to distract her. But

00:58:00.139 --> 00:58:01.820
he tells her that he doesn't want to be just

00:58:01.820 --> 00:58:05.500
a distraction to her. So she says, fine, I'll

00:58:05.500 --> 00:58:08.960
do it myself. And thus starts the next scene

00:58:08.960 --> 00:58:11.989
between the two of them. And it's during the

00:58:11.989 --> 00:58:13.869
scene that she admits that she feels safe with

00:58:13.869 --> 00:58:16.530
him and not so alone. And that's the reason why

00:58:16.530 --> 00:58:19.650
she wants him, not just for a distraction. She

00:58:19.650 --> 00:58:21.949
almost admits that she's falling for him, but

00:58:21.949 --> 00:58:27.309
stops short. It's really cute, this moment. But

00:58:27.309 --> 00:58:32.289
there is a line, a section, in this scene that

00:58:32.289 --> 00:58:35.590
messed with my head. And maybe it's just me.

00:58:36.070 --> 00:58:38.250
But I'm going to read it to you, because it's

00:58:38.139 --> 00:58:40.000
But I even had my partner read it last night,

00:58:40.019 --> 00:58:43.880
so I was like, is this possible? OK, so they'd

00:58:43.880 --> 00:58:46.280
be fucking. And the line is, she whimpered with

00:58:46.280 --> 00:58:48.139
pleasure as she glanced down at herself to where

00:58:48.139 --> 00:58:49.900
his hands were splayed over the planes of her

00:58:49.900 --> 00:58:53.000
stomach, and she could see the swell of his length

00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:58.639
moving inside her. Yep. Is that physically possible?

00:58:59.139 --> 00:59:02.710
I hope not. Don't you have like, OK, so I asked

00:59:02.710 --> 00:59:05.750
my partner, I was like, and he's like, it is

00:59:05.750 --> 00:59:07.989
a thing I've seen in porn with like really, really

00:59:07.989 --> 00:59:12.610
skinny people. Yeah. And I was like, just where

00:59:12.610 --> 00:59:16.489
are your organs? That's horrifying. All I get

00:59:16.489 --> 00:59:20.300
is like alien vibes, right? I thought would not

00:59:20.300 --> 00:59:21.880
I would immediately be like, get the fuck away

00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:26.360
from me. No, no. Yeah, no. I had forgotten about

00:59:26.360 --> 00:59:27.800
that. But as soon as you started reading it,

00:59:27.800 --> 00:59:29.599
I was I knew exactly what you were talking about.

00:59:30.019 --> 00:59:31.599
Yeah, that freaked me out, too. I was like, I

00:59:31.599 --> 00:59:33.719
need to immediately wipe that from my brain because

00:59:33.719 --> 00:59:35.360
I get such a not to put it back in your brain,

00:59:35.400 --> 00:59:37.460
but like I can see it so clearly and it looks

00:59:37.460 --> 00:59:41.119
so alien and horrifying. And I hated it. And

00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:44.070
then I went down the spiral of like. Is that

00:59:44.070 --> 00:59:46.030
physically possible? How big would he have to

00:59:46.030 --> 00:59:48.050
be? Or how thin would she have to be? And what

00:59:48.050 --> 00:59:49.710
organs are there? And I guess there's not really

00:59:49.710 --> 00:59:51.610
any organs in the front. There's just fat. And

00:59:51.610 --> 00:59:54.909
I was just hard to be like, nope, it's fine.

00:59:54.949 --> 00:59:56.090
I'm going to highlight it, though, because I

00:59:56.090 --> 00:59:59.190
will talk about it. Yeah, I had that same thought,

00:59:59.329 --> 01:00:01.349
too. And she is described as being very skinny.

01:00:01.449 --> 01:00:05.349
I just don't picture her like that. No. And how

01:00:05.349 --> 01:00:08.349
skinny do you have? You have to be really skinny.

01:00:08.610 --> 01:00:10.289
Really thin. Maybe I just can't fathom it, because

01:00:10.289 --> 01:00:15.269
I've never been thin. Yeah. But it's just freaking

01:00:15.269 --> 01:00:18.269
me out, man. Yeah, that freaked me out, too.

01:00:18.269 --> 01:00:20.090
And that's not something that I find particularly,

01:00:20.590 --> 01:00:23.150
like, that it doesn't do it for me, you know?

01:00:23.210 --> 01:00:25.730
No. No, it doesn't either. And I will say it

01:00:25.730 --> 01:00:27.070
didn't do it for my partner either. He's just

01:00:27.070 --> 01:00:28.909
like, but I'm a boy, so I've looked at things.

01:00:28.949 --> 01:00:30.949
And I'm like, that's fine. I honestly needed

01:00:30.949 --> 01:00:33.889
an answer if you've seen this. Like, thank you

01:00:33.889 --> 01:00:35.889
for confirming that this is realistic in some

01:00:35.889 --> 01:00:39.949
ways, but each. But each, a big each. Yeah. Ugh.

01:00:42.589 --> 01:00:46.289
But I will say that beyond this scene, it is,

01:00:46.309 --> 01:00:48.750
I mean, beyond that one thing, the scene is good.

01:00:48.949 --> 01:00:50.809
Oh, it's so good. It is like one handed reading

01:00:50.809 --> 01:00:53.349
club. Yeah, one handed reading club. The only

01:00:53.349 --> 01:00:55.429
thing that I want to point out from like a story

01:00:55.429 --> 01:00:57.369
context is that I think this is also the first

01:00:57.369 --> 01:01:01.150
time that Blackwell is completely naked. Yes,

01:01:01.150 --> 01:01:02.690
which we don't get a lot of description about

01:01:02.690 --> 01:01:04.909
his body other than like the generic. Is this

01:01:04.909 --> 01:01:11.489
the scene where there's blood everywhere? It

01:01:11.489 --> 01:01:14.630
might be. That kind of did it for me too, honestly,

01:01:14.650 --> 01:01:15.809
which is kind of weird. It doesn't really matter

01:01:15.809 --> 01:01:17.570
where that falls, but at some point when they're

01:01:17.570 --> 01:01:19.650
banging, because they do it a lot, there's a

01:01:19.650 --> 01:01:21.210
haunt that happens, which is basically like blood

01:01:21.210 --> 01:01:24.829
rain and thunder. And Blackwell's like, OK, I'll

01:01:24.829 --> 01:01:27.050
go take care of that. And Ophelia is like, no,

01:01:27.309 --> 01:01:28.769
leave it. And so they just like fucking the blood

01:01:28.769 --> 01:01:30.530
rain. And honestly, like, I wasn't mad about

01:01:30.530 --> 01:01:32.969
that. Yeah, no, I'm not going to lie. That kind

01:01:32.969 --> 01:01:34.929
of did it for me too. I was like, which is wild.

01:01:34.969 --> 01:01:37.670
And I was like, OK, yeah, it's a horror book.

01:01:37.769 --> 01:01:41.010
OK, it's a horror. It says it in the name. Exactly.

01:01:41.090 --> 01:01:43.690
Like I'm fine. Give me the blood rain. Yeah.

01:01:45.550 --> 01:01:47.889
But pertinent to the story, like we didn't get

01:01:47.889 --> 01:01:50.969
a description of a devil's mark. No. And so she

01:01:50.969 --> 01:01:53.670
has seen him fully nude now. So again, unless

01:01:53.670 --> 01:01:56.250
it's on the bottoms of his feet or like in his

01:01:56.250 --> 01:02:01.269
hair. Yeah. He's probably just a phantom? Question

01:02:01.269 --> 01:02:03.849
mark. Or a Prince of Hell. The Prince of Hell.

01:02:04.230 --> 01:02:07.940
The only one Prince of Hell could be. Yep. So

01:02:07.940 --> 01:02:10.380
afterward Ophelia realizes that she's in deep

01:02:10.380 --> 01:02:13.780
shit because she's catching feelings And so she

01:02:13.780 --> 01:02:15.579
says again that they shouldn't do this again

01:02:15.579 --> 01:02:18.980
for real this time for real for reals Because

01:02:18.980 --> 01:02:20.739
specifically she needs to focus on finding his

01:02:20.739 --> 01:02:23.619
key. She tells him quote. We cannot become attached

01:02:23.619 --> 01:02:25.679
to each other I cannot want you like this you

01:02:25.679 --> 01:02:27.460
leave me for an hour and I'm craving your company

01:02:27.460 --> 01:02:29.860
That's not just foolish It's dangerous and I

01:02:29.860 --> 01:02:31.920
can't rely on you to save me from everything

01:02:31.920 --> 01:02:34.500
when in less than six days I will never see you

01:02:34.500 --> 01:02:38.480
again And so they agree, no more kissing, no

01:02:38.480 --> 01:02:40.199
more touching, no more sleeping in the same bed.

01:02:41.059 --> 01:02:42.760
So on one hand, I was like, you're right. You

01:02:42.760 --> 01:02:44.760
don't have a lot of time and you do have a bargain

01:02:44.760 --> 01:02:46.800
to fulfill. But on the other hand, I was like,

01:02:46.820 --> 01:02:48.739
you could also die any day. And like, that seems

01:02:48.739 --> 01:02:51.860
pretty great. So like, why not? Yeah, I was like,

01:02:51.860 --> 01:02:57.199
it can be both. Like it can be both. Just you

01:02:57.199 --> 01:02:59.000
got to get better about like time management,

01:02:59.039 --> 01:03:01.500
girl. Yeah. And this hot and cold thing does.

01:03:01.539 --> 01:03:03.559
It starts here and it kind of continues. It's

01:03:03.559 --> 01:03:05.500
like. We're on again. We're off again. We're

01:03:05.500 --> 01:03:08.820
on again. And it's kind of tedious. But there

01:03:08.820 --> 01:03:12.219
is enough, one, there's enough else going on

01:03:12.219 --> 01:03:16.659
in the story that it's fine. And I don't know

01:03:16.659 --> 01:03:18.460
if we get a happily ever after. But I'm here

01:03:18.460 --> 01:03:21.739
for their chemistry. So whatever. Yeah, I agree.

01:03:21.820 --> 01:03:27.829
And I also have to say that it's. It still makes

01:03:27.829 --> 01:03:30.170
sense in the story. Is it annoying? Yes. But

01:03:30.170 --> 01:03:32.590
is this a high pressure, high stress, very fantastical

01:03:32.590 --> 01:03:39.989
situation? Yes. It didn't feel like I can't remember

01:03:39.989 --> 01:03:44.070
the name of the book, but that book that we read

01:03:44.070 --> 01:03:47.070
with the random threesome, and then at some point

01:03:47.070 --> 01:03:50.050
somebody shoots the female main character with

01:03:50.050 --> 01:03:54.409
a crossbow. Oh, yeah. What book was that? I don't

01:03:54.409 --> 01:03:56.650
remember. It wasn't Rise of the Dark Throne.

01:03:56.849 --> 01:03:57.909
That's the one where they fuck in the jungle

01:03:57.909 --> 01:03:59.789
for no reason and people clip through the ship.

01:04:00.250 --> 01:04:04.510
This is the different one. And like that had

01:04:04.510 --> 01:04:07.010
similar vibes like will they won't they off on

01:04:07.010 --> 01:04:09.070
hot, cold, hot, cold. But it was just like there

01:04:09.070 --> 01:04:12.190
was nothing else going on in the story. Yeah,

01:04:12.190 --> 01:04:13.750
I know exactly what you're talking about. I cannot

01:04:13.750 --> 01:04:15.429
remember the name for the life of me, but I know

01:04:15.429 --> 01:04:16.929
what you're talking about. It was terrible. Was

01:04:16.929 --> 01:04:22.809
it? It doesn't matter. I don't care. Brilliant.

01:04:23.449 --> 01:04:27.360
I'm sorry. You're right. And they are told at

01:04:27.360 --> 01:04:29.400
every turn, like, don't fall in love. Bad things

01:04:29.400 --> 01:04:31.380
will happen. Do it at your own risk. Maybe don't

01:04:31.380 --> 01:04:35.960
do it. Maybe rethink this. Yep. And yet, here

01:04:35.960 --> 01:04:38.519
we are. You can't control feelings, man. You

01:04:38.519 --> 01:04:42.139
can't control feelings. I think it's... I want

01:04:42.139 --> 01:04:44.480
to say it's Kingdom of Flame and Fury. That's

01:04:44.480 --> 01:04:47.300
what I was going to guess. Yeah. Is that the

01:04:47.300 --> 01:04:49.579
one where she has, like, magic, but it doesn't

01:04:49.579 --> 01:04:51.880
make any sense? Yeah, the one where she's three

01:04:51.880 --> 01:04:57.170
different people. Yeah, that one. Uh -huh, yeah.

01:04:57.530 --> 01:05:00.550
It's that one? It's a complicated love triangle

01:05:00.550 --> 01:05:02.869
with her advisor, Cade, of all people, and a

01:05:02.869 --> 01:05:06.869
mysterious stranger named Zeke. The book was

01:05:06.869 --> 01:05:10.550
not my favorite. Oh my god. Wow. OK, now I'm

01:05:10.550 --> 01:05:11.730
going down a rabbit hole. I don't need to go

01:05:11.730 --> 01:05:17.010
down anyway. Moving on. Moving right along. So.

01:05:17.150 --> 01:05:20.289
To get said space, Ophelia goes back to the room

01:05:20.289 --> 01:05:23.170
with Gabriel's name carved in it alone. And there,

01:05:23.190 --> 01:05:24.909
she lets herself grieve for some of the things

01:05:24.909 --> 01:05:27.630
that she's been going through lately. When she's

01:05:27.630 --> 01:05:29.389
done doing that, being a sad girl, she finds

01:05:29.389 --> 01:05:31.829
a secret button in the library shelf. And when

01:05:31.829 --> 01:05:34.369
she pushes it, it turns the shelf and she finds

01:05:34.369 --> 01:05:39.570
herself back in the library. Oh. Kind of a circular

01:05:39.570 --> 01:05:42.670
reference. Kind of a whole lot of nothing. Yeah.

01:05:43.289 --> 01:05:46.269
Once there Sinclair appears and he offers her

01:05:46.269 --> 01:05:47.949
a taste of the kind of thing that he can give

01:05:47.949 --> 01:05:50.210
her as a more powerful being than Blackwell.

01:05:50.969 --> 01:05:53.510
And to prove it to her he asks what her most

01:05:53.510 --> 01:05:57.710
frivolous fantasy is. So what Ophelia actually

01:05:57.710 --> 01:06:00.989
thinks of is herself and Blackwell in grim manner,

01:06:01.369 --> 01:06:05.250
but she lies and instead says a ball. She says

01:06:05.250 --> 01:06:07.349
she's never been to one and would like to experience

01:06:07.349 --> 01:06:11.760
it and so Sinclair summons that fantasy. Sinclair

01:06:11.760 --> 01:06:14.199
then asks her to dance and as they do, he asks

01:06:14.199 --> 01:06:16.380
her why she won't make a deal with him. And she

01:06:16.380 --> 01:06:18.679
says, it's because you're a devil and I hate

01:06:18.679 --> 01:06:23.940
devils. And it's like original. Wow, okay. It's

01:06:23.940 --> 01:06:26.760
a weird line to draw. He tells her she has no

01:06:26.760 --> 01:06:29.119
idea what she's up against. And when she asks,

01:06:29.420 --> 01:06:32.500
why don't you illuminate me? Sinclair says that

01:06:32.500 --> 01:06:34.760
he's bound to make Blackwell's life a misery

01:06:34.760 --> 01:06:38.059
because Blackwell stole his freedom. It's an

01:06:38.059 --> 01:06:40.980
interesting thing to say. He goes on to say that

01:06:40.980 --> 01:06:44.219
Phantasma's creator is a different devil named

01:06:44.219 --> 01:06:47.079
Salem and he's the Prince of Hell forced for

01:06:47.079 --> 01:06:49.059
eternity to run his competition because he chose

01:06:49.059 --> 01:06:52.900
his lover over his father. Sinclair aided and

01:06:52.900 --> 01:06:55.139
abetted Salem and now he must be there as well

01:06:55.139 --> 01:06:58.099
and he claims that Blackwell somehow sabotaged

01:06:58.099 --> 01:07:00.460
Sinclair and that's why he's out for revenge.

01:07:00.840 --> 01:07:02.860
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

01:07:03.119 --> 01:07:05.800
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either.

01:07:09.099 --> 01:07:12.000
And is it, I don't remember when we get the information,

01:07:12.159 --> 01:07:14.719
but like there's like two people who aren't here

01:07:14.719 --> 01:07:17.079
of their own free will. It's Salem or the fuck

01:07:17.079 --> 01:07:18.860
his name is and Blackwell, right? Like Sinclair

01:07:18.860 --> 01:07:22.460
can leave or Sinclair also trapped? No, Sinclair's

01:07:22.460 --> 01:07:24.380
also trapped. Okay, so there's like the three

01:07:24.380 --> 01:07:29.780
of them that can't leave. Right. But I thought

01:07:29.780 --> 01:07:33.099
that he said there's only two people. I know.

01:07:35.219 --> 01:07:37.659
Which would which would kind of go into like

01:07:37.659 --> 01:07:42.260
the Oh Salem is Sinclair thing Yeah, or that

01:07:42.260 --> 01:07:47.380
Blackwell is Salem thing Yeah, that's that's

01:07:47.380 --> 01:07:48.980
what I meant to say I just got my names messed

01:07:48.980 --> 01:07:52.199
up that's okay also I don't know I do I do want

01:07:52.199 --> 01:07:56.699
to be clear for the for the His name's not Salem,

01:07:56.800 --> 01:07:59.000
but it's a really long, complicated name, so

01:07:59.000 --> 01:08:01.619
it's Salem for here on out. From here on out,

01:08:01.699 --> 01:08:03.940
it's Salem. There was no way I was going to voice

01:08:03.940 --> 01:08:06.280
to text that entire name, and I don't know how

01:08:06.280 --> 01:08:08.800
to say it, so I'm sorry. No. I just wanted to

01:08:08.800 --> 01:08:10.079
make clear in case anyone out there is like,

01:08:10.159 --> 01:08:13.659
who's Salem? You didn't read it wrong. We can't

01:08:13.659 --> 01:08:19.890
read. Very long name. is what his name is actually.

01:08:22.590 --> 01:08:27.329
So I don't, yeah, and it just also seems like

01:08:27.329 --> 01:08:31.130
the whole backstory of Phantasma existing because

01:08:31.130 --> 01:08:35.090
someone chose a lover over the King of Hell.

01:08:36.050 --> 01:08:38.630
I need more to make that make sense. And I don't

01:08:38.630 --> 01:08:40.689
know where Sinclair comes in. None of this makes

01:08:40.689 --> 01:08:44.069
sense to me. I don't buy any of this story. Yeah,

01:08:44.189 --> 01:08:46.789
I mean so Sinclair says that he hid Salem's lover

01:08:46.789 --> 01:08:51.529
from the king of hell essentially, but like Okay,

01:08:51.630 --> 01:08:54.810
cool, but I don't know like did Blackwell Dark

01:08:54.810 --> 01:08:58.430
on them like we don't how did Blackwell sabotage

01:08:58.430 --> 01:09:01.130
him? Yeah, I don't and he says again and again,

01:09:01.210 --> 01:09:04.069
so I'm like, okay Maybe you're just a bad dude.

01:09:04.069 --> 01:09:06.109
Like what did you do? Like I just I have so many

01:09:06.109 --> 01:09:08.930
questions Yeah, I and I really hope we get some

01:09:08.930 --> 01:09:13.449
answers me too Anyway, Ophelia says, hey, that's

01:09:13.449 --> 01:09:15.329
a cool story, bro. And it sounds like all kinds

01:09:15.329 --> 01:09:18.430
of not my problem. So why don't you fuck off?

01:09:18.829 --> 01:09:21.989
Fuck right off. Yeah. And in return, he's like,

01:09:22.029 --> 01:09:25.130
cool, I will. But he traps her in the enchantment

01:09:25.130 --> 01:09:28.210
of the ball and she literally can't leave. Beyond

01:09:28.210 --> 01:09:32.390
that, she becomes like bedazzled. So she like

01:09:32.390 --> 01:09:34.970
dances for hours and hours and finds herself

01:09:34.970 --> 01:09:36.789
growing more and more exhausted. But she can't

01:09:36.789 --> 01:09:40.149
break free. until Blackwell physically comes

01:09:40.149 --> 01:09:43.329
and finds her. He has to throw her over his shoulder

01:09:43.329 --> 01:09:45.829
and physically take her through a barrier, a

01:09:45.829 --> 01:09:48.229
magical barrier, to break the illusion. And it

01:09:48.229 --> 01:09:50.949
turns out that when you do that, that is an incredibly

01:09:50.949 --> 01:09:53.930
painful process. At least he warns her. He's

01:09:53.930 --> 01:09:55.789
like, this is not going to be fun. Why did you

01:09:55.789 --> 01:10:01.699
do this? Good luck. Yeah. So, yeah, we're gonna

01:10:01.699 --> 01:10:05.140
end part two right there and we will see the

01:10:05.140 --> 01:10:08.479
fallout of this enchantment and breaking it in

01:10:08.479 --> 01:10:14.760
part three. Dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun. Yeah,

01:10:14.760 --> 01:10:17.600
girl. Look, I'm having a great time. I'm really

01:10:17.600 --> 01:10:20.939
enjoying this book a lot and I mean, I guess

01:10:20.939 --> 01:10:24.460
I could shit the bed in the last 30 % that I

01:10:24.460 --> 01:10:27.890
have left to read, but. I'm down to read Enchantra

01:10:27.890 --> 01:10:29.409
or the third one. I know they're not sequels,

01:10:29.430 --> 01:10:31.270
which is even better for like our main feed.

01:10:31.670 --> 01:10:36.359
And I'm here for it. Yeah, same. Me too. So we

01:10:36.359 --> 01:10:38.199
did it. Those are our thoughts on part two of

01:10:38.199 --> 01:10:41.340
Phantasma by Kaylee Smith. Thank you, as always,

01:10:41.359 --> 01:10:43.439
for joining us on this journey. Let us know what

01:10:43.439 --> 01:10:44.920
you thought on the socials. You can find us on

01:10:44.920 --> 01:10:47.239
TikTok, YouTube, and Goodreads at Spice Traders

01:10:47.239 --> 01:10:50.520
Pod. And if you want more, consider becoming

01:10:50.520 --> 01:10:53.420
a patron where we release patron -exclusive episodes

01:10:53.420 --> 01:10:55.880
in our off weeks. And if you really, really like

01:10:55.880 --> 01:10:58.439
us, drop us a review wherever you listen. But

01:10:58.439 --> 01:11:01.039
until next time, we'll see you. Bye. Bye.