WEBVTT

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Welcome to your safe space. The podcast, your

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partner, friends, parents, whoever thinks it's

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dirty. Don't have time to read books? Want to

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understand all the jokes and the TikToks? We

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got you fam. We're the spice traders and we deal

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in spicy books. I'm Katie and I need it to make

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sense. I'm Liz and I'm hypercritical. Before

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we get to today's episode, we want to encourage

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you to check out our Patreon, where we publish

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extra episodes every other week, as well as ad

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-free versions of our regular feed episodes.

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Also, any series we read past the first book,

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all that coverage is Patreon only, so think series

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like Akatar, Fourthwing, Guild. Anyway, we really

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appreciate the support and encouragement to continue

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doing something we love and sharing it with you.

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Thanks in advance for checking that out. As always,

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we start this episode with three things. First

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is a generic trigger warning. You can find specific

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triggers for this book in our show notes, so

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please check those out. We also use foul language

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and talk a lot about sex. If you have sensitivity

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to either of those things, our podcast probably

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isn't for you. Second, our episodes talk about

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books, the whole book, nothing but the book,

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so help me goddess. If you don't want something

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spoiled, don't listen to this episode. And finally,

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we acknowledge that a good book can hit you at

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the wrong time. Our views discussed in our episodes

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are our opinion, and we don't want to diminish

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the work or the talents of the authors in our

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community. That said, we have some notes. Katie,

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what are we talking about today? Today we are

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talking about part three of Phantasma by Kaylee

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Smith. And this is part three of three. So if

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you haven't read the book or listened to part

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one and two of our coverage, do one of those

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things because you're going to be lost. This

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part will cover chapters 34 onward. And then

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at the end of our coverage today, we will do

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our ratings. So. Let's dive in because I think

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I mean, we just finished our debrief and we had

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a great time. So I had a great time. It's whole

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book. Yeah. So when we last saw Ophelia, she

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had just gone through the excruciating ordeal

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of breaking a demon's illusion with the help

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of Blackwell. And she's still reeling from this

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experience. But unfortunately, she doesn't have

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a whole lot of time to recover because it's time

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for the next challenge. And in fact, she's on

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the verge of being late. And if she doesn't show

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up, she's going to be disqualified. So Blackwell

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rushes her to the dining room where she makes

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it in time. just to enter the portal for the

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devil who is doing this competition. And this

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devil's name is Rhea. Before Ophelia enters that

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portal, it's clear that Rhea and Blackwell have

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some kind of history. And Rhea is described as

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being very attractive. And Ophelia is obviously

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jealous, but she's got bigger fish to fry in

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this exact moment. She also does her little like,

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I'm not allowed to be jealous because we're just

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friends. I'm like, OK, girl. OK, yes. Whatever.

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Sure, Jan. She's like, who he fucked before or?

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tries to fuck now it's none of my beeswax and

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I'm like okay okay if you say so you can say

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it as many times as you want it doesn't make

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it more true doesn't make it more true so she

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goes through the portal and on the other side

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she finds herself in a room with two switches

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on the wall one is labeled forfeit and the other

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is labeled wrath she obviously chooses wrath

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because she's like send it let's go full send

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we'll not forfeit now I've come too damn far

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Once she does that, a panel opens up and reveals

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buttons labeled with the names of other contestants.

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And of course, she picks Cade. When she and all

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the other contestants have chosen, the walls

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of the rooms come down and they are in one much

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bigger room. At the other end of the room, there

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are enough pedestals for all but one of the competitors

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to exit the challenge. And they all realize kind

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of together that either somebody has to forfeit

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or they're going to be a fight to the death question

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mark. I was a little unclear of like where this

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was gonna go and what was gonna happen, but it

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was fine. Yeah, I also um, wasn't super clear

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on like what What the I guess intended outcome

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was and I feel embarrassed at this I just looked

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up like the nine circles of hell because I wasn't

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super clear on what This challenge was it's wrath.

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Obviously it said it in the challenge. I just

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didn't put that together But that makes it seem

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like they want them to fight to the death, but

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it could be very clear that like I don't know,

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somebody forfeit. And then why did they choose

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the name? Like, yeah, I mean, like to me, it

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seemed less like wrath and more like revenge,

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right? Because like she picks Cade and then it

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seems like everyone else also picked Cade because

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he's hated. But that's not really wrathful. It's

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a smart move, honestly. And then like Cade shows

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his wrath. I feel OK. Cade shows his wrath because

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he goes after some other girl. And we have that

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altercation. I felt like, though, What could

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have been more interesting is if they pick whoever

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they want, then like use the fight to the death.

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And it almost seems like it's getting there.

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Like everyone is angry. Like Ophelia even mentions

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that. What's her name? Charlotte. There's like

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some other character that doesn't really matter

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is like speaking up when she never usually speaks.

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So it seems like there's something egging them

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on. But I did kind of feel like this whole challenge

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was a little bit of weak sauce. Yeah, this is

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one of the challenges that feels like. Not not

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that hard honestly and especially for like it's

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like Ophelia and Cade and then this poor girl

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Edna like get into an altercation and then like

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everybody else just gets to reap the fruits of

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their labor I guess yeah, and the altercation

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isn't even really anything. I mean like Cade

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tries to strangle Edna and I Don't even remember

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how this ends cuz Cade survives Yeah, so what

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happens is that it becomes clear everybody chose

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Cade but like that doesn't materially do something,

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anything like he's just aware of that, and he's

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not going to forfeit willingly. So he takes Edna,

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another female contestant hostage, and he starts

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strangling her in his place. And he's like, Okay,

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well, I'm not gonna go, it's gonna be somebody

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else. And everybody is just kind of watching

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this happen until Ophelia is like, Really? Like,

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no one's gonna, I guess I'll fucking do it. Guess

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I'll do this myself. Yeah. And so she uses her

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specter invisibility thing to get a few knocks

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on Cade and get Edna out of his grasp. And then

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that's when the other people go to help Edna

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and make sure she's OK. But then as soon as Edna

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comes to, she forfeits. And so everybody else

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is allowed to leave the challenge by sitting

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on a pedestal. Which, yeah, this one wasn't my

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favorite one. It didn't seem very thoughtful.

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This one in gluttony I just wasn't a fan of.

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No, exactly. It just felt like phoning it in.

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I wish them choosing Cade's name had done something.

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To Cade. Yes. Like shot him through with an arrow

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or something. Yeah. Or like just the act of like,

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I don't know. I don't know. This one did feel

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like phoning it in. I just felt like they're

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all pretty creative. And this one, she was like,

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I don't know. Yeah, or I wish that if it was

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a unanimous decision by everybody else that then

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Kate gets chained down and then they all have

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to like stab him until he dies. That would be

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fun. That would be fun. And then they could leave.

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And then they could leave. Bye. Anyway, back

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in the dining room, most of the other contestants

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leave immediately, but Ophelia takes the opportunity

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to get some food because she's barely eaten over

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the past few days. This was also one thing about

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the book, like, look, high marks across the board,

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just small feedback. Homegirl hasn't eaten like

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in five days. No, I'm also a little confused

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by the whole dining room situation because like,

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OK, there's food before and after the challenges.

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Right. But then at least twice, it seems like

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after the challenge, the food all like magically

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rots and turns into maggot. So like, is there

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real food anywhere? And is that the only opportunity

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they have to eat is like before a challenge?

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I don't know, because I think that a couple of

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times there's reference to breakfast, too, that

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is not dinner. And I'm like, oh, OK. What? What?

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Yeah, no, Homeworld needs to eat. She takes like

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three baths, but she does not eat. No. And even

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here, she only has like a handful of grapes.

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And she's like, I'm stuffed. She only eats grapes.

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That's all this woman eats is grapes and whiskey.

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Yeah, and I also inhaled a large gust of wind

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this morning for my breakfast, so I'm here. I

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am full. Listen, no more for me. Couldn't eat

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another bite. Anyway, when she's alone eating

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her very filling meal of a couple of grapes,

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Sinclair takes the opportunity to join her and

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tells her that Blackwell isn't there because

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he's with that devil, Rhea, and he implies heavily

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that they are getting to know each other biblically.

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And this, of course, has Ophelia feel in some

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type of way, but she doesn't give into the pressure.

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This is when she really starts thinking, like,

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who he fucks is none of my business. I'm going

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to go take a bath and forget all of the trauma

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that I just got thrust upon me. Even though I'm

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secretly raging. Right. But toward the end of

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her bath, Blackwell himself appears and he demands

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to know why he wasn't summoned during the challenge

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and why, even after that, she didn't let him

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know that she had finished the challenge successfully.

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And this is a weird question to me based on something

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that he says later. Well, it's also a weird question

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too that maybe is what you're getting at later,

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but we already know that he watches them. Well,

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he admits to doing so in this conversation and

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I'm like, so then why do I have to tell you that

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I? You watched me do the challenge. You know,

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I'm chill like come on. So just to recap What

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were you supposed to do? Like it was the easiest

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challenge I think what would you have run because

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really what she summons him? It's just so he

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can like tell her what to do So if she didn't

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summon him in the room of like forfeit or pick

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a name like there's nothing you could have done

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Well, and she even says that she tells him quote.

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I didn't need your help. So I didn't summon you

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see how that works Which is great. I love it.

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She's got she's so fucking pithy. I love her.

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I know she's so great So she then goes on to

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ask why he didn't show up at the beginning of

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Sinclair's enchantment when she summoned him

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and that's when he tells her that it's because

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Sinclair's magic is much more powerful than his

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and He apologizes for being there. So really

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she's got some hurt feelings because They you

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know have this whole push -pull thing. They can't

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be friends, but he didn't come save her when

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she called Well, well, you were in Sinclair's

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super powerful thing. I don't know. Also, you

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keep getting hurt. We've talked about this. Yeah.

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And I don't know. I don't know. She has to have

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known that by now, but like she's gotten hurt

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a couple of times, so hazard against like their

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bond is weakening. I just think maybe she forgets.

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I mean, it is hard to keep the like. perspective

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that this is happening in like 72 hours. Yeah,

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that's true. And I just okay, the other thought

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I had, which I don't blame her for not thinking

00:11:02.230 --> 00:11:04.669
of. But if I knew that whenever I got hurt, our

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bond weakened, and that means you can't help

00:11:06.450 --> 00:11:08.070
me when I need you. And that means that I could

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probably die. I think I would bargain like I'll

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give you another year of my life if we could

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like, hone up their shores, you know, like just

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really strengthen our bond. Can we do that? Yeah,

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just one more. Like, let's just test this out.

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Can you hear me at the other end of the palace?

00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:24.460
No? Okay, then let's another year of my life.

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Let's go. Exactly. Because like, what's 11 if

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we already did 10? Honestly. Honestly. So Ophelia

00:11:32.059 --> 00:11:34.659
then asks Blackwell where he was just now, and

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he confirms that he was with Rhea, but tells

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her that he and Rhea haven't been intimate in

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a very long time. And he goes on to say that

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jealousy is a sexy color on Ophelia. And then

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he asks her if he can bathe her. What do you

00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:50.120
think about scenes like this? The bathing scene

00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:55.240
or the jealousy thing? The bathing scene. We've

00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.799
seen it in others. The one that I can think of

00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:05.019
that I did like was in High Mountain Court in

00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:09.899
Carys' book, right? When she has her really horrible

00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:11.759
menstrual cycle and he bathes her and then they

00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.019
have dirty period sex, which is pretty great.

00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:18.419
mixed feelings because on one hand, I think it's

00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:22.879
a really nice caretaking thing, but sometimes.

00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.820
OK, I'm not sure how to phrase this. I know what

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I'm here for in this book, and that's for them

00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.779
to get it on. So I have a hard time thinking

00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:31.580
that it's from like a genuine place and it's

00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:33.539
not just foreplay. And then that kind of bothers

00:12:33.539 --> 00:12:35.500
me because then it's like, are you manipulating

00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:37.399
me to get in my pants or like, are you actually

00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:40.720
taking care of me? Yeah, I'm with you on that.

00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:46.509
I don't know if like. I think I like it in certain

00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:49.990
contexts. I was going to say I don't know how

00:12:49.990 --> 00:12:53.830
I would feel about it in real life, mostly because

00:12:53.830 --> 00:13:00.610
baths are for me. Yeah. I don't need another

00:13:00.610 --> 00:13:03.950
person there. No. My partner and I will shower

00:13:03.950 --> 00:13:08.529
together sometimes, non -sexually, and he'll

00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:10.789
wash my back and I'll wash his. That's really

00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:15.080
nice. But a bathtub is also a very small place

00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:19.100
and it's just like it's like me time yeah, so

00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:22.399
I don't know like I Even in context. I think

00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.419
there's very few that I like I really do like

00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:29.860
the You've had a trauma. Let me help you thing.

00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:34.259
I like it most often when that doesn't immediately

00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:37.500
translate into sex. Yeah, that's what that's

00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:39.039
where I was going. I think when it just immediately

00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.980
becomes sex, it kind of undermines the caretaking

00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:48.179
of it. Right. Yeah. So anyway, as Blackwell does

00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:49.980
this, they have a conversation about how they

00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:52.360
keep being drawn together. Ophelia brings up

00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.559
that it's probably just because Blackwell recognizes

00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.940
the essence of her father within her. but he

00:13:57.940 --> 00:13:59.840
tends to think that it's something more. He says

00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.440
quote, it's you I'm drawn to Ophelia even with

00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:06.259
my memory gone you marked me somehow. And the

00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:08.139
emotions that his confession bring up in Ophelia

00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.740
make her bring up Eric's killing again and she

00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:12.820
wonders aloud whether the shadow voice is her

00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:15.740
and it's just all of the worst parts about her

00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:18.830
but still her nonetheless. Blackwell tells her

00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:20.629
that Eric was trying to kill her. So that really

00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:22.789
seems like a balancing of the scales more than

00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:25.490
like vindictiveness And he goes on to say that

00:14:25.490 --> 00:14:27.710
quote life is not measured in good or bad thoughts.

00:14:27.710 --> 00:14:29.789
It's how you treat the world around you despite

00:14:29.789 --> 00:14:34.450
them I really like that sentiment Me too, because

00:14:34.450 --> 00:14:36.669
we all have shitty thoughts and like if you add

00:14:36.669 --> 00:14:40.360
in OCD on that. I just realized I never read

00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:41.940
at the end of this book, whatever the author

00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:44.039
says about OCD, so I'll have to read that. But

00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.059
if you add in something that gives you like compulsive

00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:47.580
bad thoughts or like depression or something

00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:49.840
like that, I think it's a really important note

00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.720
that it's not about like your impulsive thoughts

00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.860
or the thoughts you have. It's like what you

00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:58.340
do with that, because we all have like if someone

00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:00.360
could read my mind, I would be ashamed of a lot

00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.820
of the thoughts I have a lot of the time. Right.

00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.440
Exactly. Well, I don't mean them. It's it's reducing

00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:09.580
you down to like one aspect of you when humans

00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:13.559
are very complex and multifaceted. Exactly. And

00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:15.659
I think that's a really strong undercurrent in

00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:19.340
this book with her and her shadow voice of like

00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:21.559
her battle and what Blackwell says of like, it's

00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:23.919
not it's not what you're thinking. It's what

00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.440
you do with it. And like her own, I'm always

00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:27.679
afraid it's going to make me hurt someone or

00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.299
myself. But like, that's not me. This thing might

00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:32.320
be part of me, but it's not me. And I really

00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:36.789
love that as an underlying lesson. I do too.

00:15:36.909 --> 00:15:40.649
I also really appreciate that he talked about

00:15:40.649 --> 00:15:43.149
it, not in terms of mental health, but in terms

00:15:43.149 --> 00:15:46.529
of just generally, this is how I think about

00:15:46.529 --> 00:15:48.909
how people should be held to account because

00:15:48.909 --> 00:15:55.870
I can see how for Ophelia, having a different

00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:58.730
mental state than most people can be very othering.

00:15:58.970 --> 00:16:01.049
It's easier for her to reduce herself to just

00:16:01.049 --> 00:16:03.919
that. Yes. And especially we get more of it,

00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:05.360
I think, in this part, but even in part two,

00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:07.120
where she's always thought that she was a burden,

00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.179
like that's her biggest fear, which those slow

00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:15.240
like layers of her biggest fear, I think was

00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.179
really fun. Like I was not surprised by her biggest

00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:19.600
fear once it was revealed. But yeah, it makes

00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.840
all of this like all the more powerful. It super

00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:28.200
does. So on the heels of this conversation, Ophelia

00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:32.129
then admits that she wants the opposite of space

00:16:32.129 --> 00:16:35.049
from him. As little space as possible. And he

00:16:35.049 --> 00:16:39.090
readily obliges. Which is really cute. Just do

00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:41.629
it. You're going to be here for a week. Just

00:16:41.629 --> 00:16:44.370
do it. And I got to say, it's another pretty

00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:46.990
good scene. But this is the start of their scenes

00:16:46.990 --> 00:16:49.809
being completely cocked blocked by other people.

00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:53.289
Because this one is cocked blocked by Jasper,

00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:57.250
of all people. Also, OK, so the cock blocking

00:16:57.250 --> 00:17:02.340
is really frustrating. I like Jasper. Jasper.

00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:04.539
I could not say his name. I like Jasper and I

00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:06.180
like that he pops in and he's like, oh, dear,

00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.200
am I interrupting? Let me watch. Yeah, exactly.

00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.960
Don't stop on my account. I just think it's great.

00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:17.380
Yeah. So Jasper is actually expected by Blackwell,

00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:22.500
but Jasper showed up early. Oops. And so after

00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:24.299
Ophelia and Blackwell kind of recover themselves

00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:25.539
and get dressed, the three of them go to the

00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:28.240
drinking parlor and Jasper shares the news that

00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:30.859
Blackwell asked him to get. Specifically, he

00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:32.900
learned that Ophelia's parents fell in love during

00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:36.819
their first phantasma participation and that

00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:40.140
actually Ophelia was conceived during that time.

00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.109
Isn't that neat? Isn't that neat? More than that,

00:17:44.190 --> 00:17:46.130
they fell in love during Phantasma, and this

00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:48.089
prompts Ophelia to ask what the whole deal is

00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:49.809
about falling in love, like what specifically

00:17:49.809 --> 00:17:52.029
happens, and during this she reveals that she

00:17:52.029 --> 00:17:54.849
knows about Salem, which is helpful because Blackwell

00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:57.390
and Jasper can talk about Salem as long as the

00:17:57.390 --> 00:17:58.910
person that they're talking to already knows

00:17:58.910 --> 00:18:01.430
about them. And since Sinclair already said his

00:18:01.430 --> 00:18:06.619
name... Here we are. So we learned that if people

00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:08.819
fall in love during phantasma that love is cursed

00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:11.500
for her parents in particular her mother Quote

00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.579
became more apathetic toward your father with

00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:15.759
every passing day But your father became more

00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:19.460
dangerously obsessive with her at the same time

00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:25.339
It's made me really sad I know And so what that

00:18:25.339 --> 00:18:27.700
resulted in was that Tessie Grimm ended up making

00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:30.220
a deal with the devil outside of phantasma to

00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:33.140
make Gabriel forget all about her and her children

00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:35.599
their children together But because Phantasma

00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:37.819
has such powerful magic, that wasn't a perfect

00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:40.380
solution. And eventually, Gabriel began to remember

00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:42.599
some of the parts about Tessie and their kids.

00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.200
That is why he entered Phantasma for the second

00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.640
time, because his intention was to break their

00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:52.359
love curse. So all right. This is a question

00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:54.099
that I had. And I think if I talk about it, it'll

00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:57.740
make sense. Because Ophelia and Genevieve are

00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:02.230
not twins. So like. Tessie and Gabriel fell in

00:19:02.230 --> 00:19:04.890
love and fit asthma. They both, I guess, forfeited.

00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:08.849
They survived somehow. Had Ophelia. Then they

00:19:08.849 --> 00:19:11.349
must have stayed together and had Genevieve a

00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:14.410
year or two later. And then she goes to make

00:19:14.410 --> 00:19:17.690
the bargain for him to forget about them. Yeah,

00:19:17.690 --> 00:19:20.450
there was a one -line fixer in there about when

00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.069
she meets her mother later on, spoilers, her

00:19:23.069 --> 00:19:25.630
mother's like, I thought giving him another child

00:19:25.630 --> 00:19:29.200
would make it better. And that wasn't. What worked?

00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.819
It read to me like it's so insidious, right?

00:19:33.900 --> 00:19:36.059
Because like with what we see later with Lucy

00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:38.240
and Leon, like that is a very physical, like

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:40.559
uncontrollable manifestation of a curse. But

00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.160
this almost reads like maybe that was going to

00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.200
happen anyway because of who Gabriel was. Yeah,

00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:50.279
it does. So like, were they cursed or was he

00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:53.380
just a dirt bag? Yeah. And maybe like they just

00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:54.819
got caught up in the moment and Tessie wasn't

00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:56.319
actually ahead of her heels for him. And it makes

00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:59.160
me wonder. I'm fine that we don't understand

00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:01.059
more about the love curses, but it's interesting

00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:03.640
the different ways they manifest because Tessie

00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.740
and Gabriel were both in love with each other,

00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.640
where Lucy was in a one sided love. Right. So

00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:13.099
like that person's a little bit different. So

00:20:13.099 --> 00:20:14.960
if I fall in love with you and you don't love

00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:18.119
me and I can't touch you, like that seems fine.

00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:20.220
Right. Right. Why would I touch you anyway if

00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:22.480
you don't want me? Yeah, I'll just I'll just

00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.480
get over it. And even later on, Blackwell says

00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.470
that like the curse would only affect like you

00:20:28.470 --> 00:20:31.890
if you're in proximity to me yeah so like if

00:20:31.890 --> 00:20:36.190
i'm just not near you just leave just forget

00:20:36.190 --> 00:20:41.390
about me just leave yeah just go so that was

00:20:41.390 --> 00:20:43.829
interesting to me um and Ophelia is struck by

00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:46.170
what she's heard for another reason and when

00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:48.170
Blackwell tries to tell her that it's going to

00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:50.609
be okay she says quote how is any of what you

00:20:50.609 --> 00:20:52.990
just heard okay especially when you and i are

00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:58.390
apparently just repeating history Which are you

00:20:58.390 --> 00:21:00.609
saying we're in love? What do you mean? What

00:21:00.609 --> 00:21:05.309
what? This admission has her fleeing from the

00:21:05.309 --> 00:21:08.109
room and when she does she summons the whispering

00:21:08.109 --> 00:21:12.549
gate again and falls into it Whoops whoops whoops

00:21:12.549 --> 00:21:15.890
whoops whoops whoops but this time she's able

00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:17.470
to make use of the whispering gate now that she

00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:19.450
knows like what to expect and what it is and

00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:21.329
she's able to make contact with her mother and

00:21:21.329 --> 00:21:24.240
they have a bit of a lengthy conversation Ophelia

00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.700
tells her mother everything that's been going

00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:28.859
on and her mother tells her that she didn't share

00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:31.880
any of the details of like phantasma or Gabriel

00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:34.720
or the debt or whatever because she wanted to

00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:37.319
shield Ophelia and Genevieve from that heartbreak

00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:40.880
and that pain. She goes on to say that Ophelia

00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.680
is her own person and needs to forge her own

00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.180
path and she shouldn't live her life according

00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:49.000
to what she thinks will appease her mother. She

00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:50.960
says further that Ophelia needs to stay the hell

00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.420
away from Blackwell and at the end of the conversation

00:21:53.420 --> 00:21:55.859
Ophelia asks about the locket and her mother

00:21:55.859 --> 00:21:58.119
only says quote All I know is that my mother

00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:01.339
passed it to me as did hers to her and so on

00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:04.339
for generations of grim women You mustn't ever

00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:10.900
take it off Which I was very pleased with how

00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:13.240
the locket comes into play but like no one's

00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.559
ever tried to take it off in generations Yeah,

00:22:16.579 --> 00:22:22.559
I thought that was weird too. But the thing that

00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:28.000
I thought was more weird was how Tessie Grimm

00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.680
is still a toxic mother even in death. She's

00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:36.890
the worst, honestly. Ophelia has said over and

00:22:36.890 --> 00:22:38.970
over again how like she had all these expectations

00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:41.150
put on her and like her mother wasn't really

00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.269
a touchy feely, like warm and fuzzies kind of

00:22:43.269 --> 00:22:45.230
person with her, but she was with Genevieve.

00:22:45.509 --> 00:22:47.970
And so like she, for example, never heard her

00:22:47.970 --> 00:22:50.269
mom say that she was proud of her. And even in

00:22:50.269 --> 00:22:53.049
this interaction, Tessie says something like,

00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:54.630
I knew you could do it. And she's like, well,

00:22:54.650 --> 00:22:56.910
I guess that's as close to an attagirl as I'm

00:22:56.910 --> 00:22:59.230
going to get. Which is so shitty, because like,

00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:00.750
I know you could do it is not the same as I'm

00:23:00.750 --> 00:23:02.900
proud of you. That's basically like. I didn't

00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:04.539
expect anything less. Like, of course you did

00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:06.859
it. And not in a prideful way, but of, like,

00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:09.359
obviously. Right. Thanks for not fucking it up,

00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:14.180
I guess. Basically, it was fun to see more of

00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:15.519
Tessie and their relationship. And I feel like

00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.779
it really drove home a lot of what Ophelia's

00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:20.299
been feeling about her. The only thing I did

00:23:20.299 --> 00:23:23.700
like from Tessie was she was like, hey, the family

00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:25.740
business meant a lot to me. It doesn't have to

00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:28.559
mean a lot to you. Right. That was the only like

00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.019
non -toxic mom part. The rest of it was like,

00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:38.779
Stay away from that boy. He's not good for you.

00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:41.140
No, but she does say that line that I didn't

00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:43.900
catch until the end where it'll only hurt you,

00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.960
or it'll hurt only you. And I thought that was

00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:50.599
very fun wordplay to come out later. I thought

00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:56.450
it was too. And it made me wonder. Because Ophelia

00:23:56.450 --> 00:23:58.990
says sometime later like maybe Tessie learned

00:23:58.990 --> 00:24:01.650
the secrets of phantasma after death But it seems

00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:03.690
like she still wasn't able to tell her because

00:24:03.690 --> 00:24:05.569
if she was if she knew everything then she would

00:24:05.569 --> 00:24:09.509
just say like Give him the locket Yeah, right

00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:13.950
or like just hey, he is the prince of hell BT

00:24:13.950 --> 00:24:16.170
dubs does that help is that anything? I don't

00:24:16.170 --> 00:24:17.890
know. I mean, I don't know This is what I'm seeing

00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:22.089
over here on this side. Maybe yeah, maybe Anyway

00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:25.759
When Ophelia exits the whispering gate, she comes

00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.119
out in the same spot and she falls into the waiting

00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:31.460
arms of Blackwell. This is when he tells her

00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:33.420
that her confession in the drinking parlor made

00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:36.099
him realize that space is exactly what they need

00:24:36.099 --> 00:24:37.779
because doing anything else would be dangerous

00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.819
and stupid. But Ophelia takes this really the

00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:43.079
wrong way despite the fact that she's asked for

00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:46.259
it twice before and she tells him never call

00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:48.359
me Angel again and you're dismissed. Goodbye.

00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:52.509
Okay. This was the part where I was like, okay,

00:24:52.609 --> 00:24:54.829
this push pull is a little bit obnoxious I know

00:24:54.829 --> 00:24:56.609
because like you just had a conversation of like

00:24:56.609 --> 00:24:58.390
we can't stay away from each other I don't want

00:24:58.390 --> 00:25:00.430
space and then you find out that like falling

00:25:00.430 --> 00:25:02.250
in love is cursed, which you already kind of

00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.230
knew by the way You just didn't know the family

00:25:04.230 --> 00:25:06.569
tie that doesn't really change anything that's

00:25:06.569 --> 00:25:09.990
happening No, I do wonder though like what the

00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:12.329
conversation was between Jasper and Blackwell

00:25:12.329 --> 00:25:17.769
after this. Yeah That's like I mean ostensibly

00:25:18.289 --> 00:25:20.970
Blackwell doesn't know who he is right now, but

00:25:20.970 --> 00:25:22.849
I wonder if Jasper was like you're just gonna

00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:25.809
end up hurting her like you gotta You gotta stop

00:25:25.809 --> 00:25:28.410
because I still believe that like Jasper knows

00:25:28.410 --> 00:25:32.650
who he is. Yeah, I do too and I think Jasper

00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:35.609
is kind of like a chaotic neutral entity here.

00:25:35.710 --> 00:25:40.829
Oh for sure So on the way to the next challenge

00:25:40.829 --> 00:25:43.529
Ophelia runs into Sinclair who accuses her of

00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:45.700
falling in love with Blackwell when she denies

00:25:45.700 --> 00:25:47.900
it he tells her to prove it by letting him pleasure

00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:51.599
her instead so she does but before they get very

00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:54.059
far she tells him to stop she tells us quote

00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:55.579
though there was passion in their kiss there

00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:57.880
was absolutely no heat her stomach did not flutter

00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:02.539
her skin did not flush with anticipation in other

00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:04.400
words the vibes are not vibing the vibes are

00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.759
not vibing on one hand i was kind of like all

00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:08.480
right girl i see you on the other hand i was

00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:13.079
like but for whom are you doing this Yeah, like

00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:16.339
a little bit of revenge. Okay. But like revenge

00:26:16.339 --> 00:26:21.279
on what? Yeah. Do anything. I think she's just

00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.819
trying to get back at Blackwell to be like, you

00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:24.920
know what? You don't want me? Other people do.

00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:29.720
Yeah, which fine. But with Sinclair, he's a scary

00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:34.259
looking guy to me. Yeah. Spooky, spooky. So of

00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:37.160
course, Rhea, of all people, catch this interaction

00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:39.380
and it makes Ophelia realize that she may indeed

00:26:39.380 --> 00:26:43.549
be falling in love with Blackwell. You've already

00:26:43.549 --> 00:26:46.390
realized this, girl, like six times. You've already

00:26:46.390 --> 00:26:49.990
almost said it to him. Like, shit. Now it really

00:26:49.990 --> 00:26:52.410
is real. OK. Yeah. Which, like, I do appreciate

00:26:52.410 --> 00:26:55.549
the realism of that feeling of, like, I'm trying

00:26:55.549 --> 00:26:57.369
not to feel this feeling. So I acknowledge it

00:26:57.369 --> 00:26:58.970
sometimes. But most of the time, I have blinders

00:26:58.970 --> 00:27:00.930
up. And then other times, it's like, I can't

00:27:00.930 --> 00:27:04.529
ignore it anymore, I guess. Yeah. It was definitely

00:27:04.529 --> 00:27:08.650
giving Hercules, I won't say I'm in love, like.

00:27:09.549 --> 00:27:15.069
whiplash. Big time. Oh yeah. So the next trial

00:27:15.069 --> 00:27:17.450
is deceit and the contestants are put in a room

00:27:17.450 --> 00:27:19.690
and chained to chairs around a table. But of

00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:21.930
course Ophelia slips her bindings immediately

00:27:21.930 --> 00:27:24.849
using her specter abilities. There are concrete

00:27:24.849 --> 00:27:27.210
pillars suspended above them and they indicate

00:27:27.210 --> 00:27:29.890
whose turn it is and they also guarantee certain

00:27:29.890 --> 00:27:33.230
doom for whoever fails the challenge. For each

00:27:33.230 --> 00:27:35.190
contestant their finger is pricked and their

00:27:35.190 --> 00:27:39.210
blood drawn to reveal a truth about them or potentially

00:27:39.210 --> 00:27:41.490
a falsehood. And it's up to the other contestants

00:27:41.490 --> 00:27:44.630
to decide which it is. I really liked this challenge.

00:27:44.750 --> 00:27:47.410
I loved this challenge. I could have watched

00:27:47.410 --> 00:27:51.549
four more rounds of this challenge. Yeah. The

00:27:51.549 --> 00:27:54.690
way that it plays out, I love it. It's so good.

00:27:55.109 --> 00:27:57.210
Because at face value, it seems really easy,

00:27:57.349 --> 00:27:58.630
right? The person could just tell you what it

00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:01.250
is, but some of them, they don't even know themselves.

00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:05.059
Right. Oh, it's so good. Like, give me this for

00:28:05.059 --> 00:28:08.160
like 20 pages. I'm here for it. Like, there was

00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:10.759
one, I'll just use this as an example, where

00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:14.279
it was like, I have a twin. And they're like,

00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:16.460
I don't have it. I don't have a twin. What are

00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:18.359
you talking about? And then I think it's Cade

00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:21.380
who's like, you don't know that you have a twin.

00:28:22.859 --> 00:28:25.740
Turns out they have a twin. Right. Which is amazing.

00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:29.890
It is amazing. Oh, it's so good. So they go around

00:28:29.890 --> 00:28:32.509
the room and during Cade's turn he successfully

00:28:32.509 --> 00:28:34.609
Deceives another contestant and when that happens

00:28:34.609 --> 00:28:37.349
the concrete block falls and crushes this person

00:28:37.349 --> 00:28:41.029
dead. Oh This was also the other twist on this

00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:43.970
that I loved is from I think the gluttony challenge

00:28:43.970 --> 00:28:47.180
where they could like pull levers to get advantages

00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:50.279
or disadvantages, that comes up here. I was wondering

00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:52.559
where that was going to come up. So one person,

00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:55.140
they have a random switch, so they can't actually

00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:57.839
vote. It just randomizes it. And then two people

00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:00.119
get a skip, so they could skip a certain question.

00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:05.200
And the concrete pillar falling is, for some

00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.380
reason, not how I saw people dying in this challenge,

00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:08.519
even though it seemed like that would have been

00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:10.980
really obvious. But when that fell, I was like,

00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:15.750
oh, shit. Yeah. My bad. I thought it was, oh,

00:29:15.750 --> 00:29:18.410
God, I thought it was so good, too, because Ophelia

00:29:18.410 --> 00:29:20.069
even has the thought, like, I hope it doesn't

00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:23.170
raise back up and, like, show us the gore underneath.

00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:25.369
You can see the carnage. Yeah. Which is a valid

00:29:25.369 --> 00:29:27.589
thought. And I didn't think about that till she

00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:31.849
said it. Yeah. It was so good. This was one of,

00:29:31.890 --> 00:29:35.450
this was, I think, appropriately high stakes,

00:29:35.450 --> 00:29:38.670
like, insidious challenge. I wish they were all

00:29:38.670 --> 00:29:41.349
like this. Yes. I think, like, half of them are

00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:42.890
good, and then a couple were just phoning it

00:29:42.890 --> 00:29:47.950
in. Yeah, agreed. So this contestant being smooshed

00:29:47.950 --> 00:29:50.069
distracts a lot of the people around the table

00:29:50.069 --> 00:29:52.109
and Ophelia is the one who ends up urging them

00:29:52.109 --> 00:29:54.089
to complete the challenge so they can all leave.

00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:56.170
So essentially what has to happen is they all

00:29:56.170 --> 00:29:58.769
have to do a turn and then the challenge is over.

00:30:00.930 --> 00:30:04.849
Unfortunately, as people go around, it's Lucy's

00:30:04.849 --> 00:30:08.150
turn and her truth is that she's in love with

00:30:08.150 --> 00:30:10.369
Leon. But then, of course, Leon's truth is that

00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:13.859
he's not in love with Lucy. And as a result of

00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:15.240
this, at the end of the challenge, when they

00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:17.900
go back to the dining room, Lucy's skin burns

00:30:17.900 --> 00:30:21.640
whenever Leon touches her. And so she's heartbroken

00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:24.200
at this truth. She's embarrassed and she doesn't

00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:26.339
know how to deal with the curse. So she forfeits

00:30:26.339 --> 00:30:31.420
phantasma. This tells me we never get it explicitly,

00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:34.359
but I have to believe that the curse only takes

00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:37.849
effect once you admit it, like, aloud. Right.

00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:40.130
Because it's clear to me at this point that Ophelia

00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:42.509
is in love with Blackwell. Exactly. And I think

00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:44.650
it was already clear to Ophelia earlier that

00:30:44.650 --> 00:30:47.690
Lucy was in love with Leon. Right. But now that

00:30:47.690 --> 00:30:49.910
she said it out loud, the house is like, naughty,

00:30:50.069 --> 00:30:55.230
naughty. Naughty, naughty. Does Leon also forfeits

00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:57.690
here? He does. He doesn't do it in this scene.

00:30:57.789 --> 00:30:59.349
But by the time the next challenge is around,

00:30:59.630 --> 00:31:01.589
he doesn't show up. And I think it's Charlotte

00:31:01.589 --> 00:31:04.349
who says, yeah, he forfeited. It makes me so

00:31:04.349 --> 00:31:10.099
sad. I know. Because I think this is a really

00:31:10.099 --> 00:31:16.319
interesting relationship dynamic because Leon

00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:19.019
is devastated to admit that he doesn't love Lucy.

00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:21.619
He still cares about her. He's just not in love

00:31:21.619 --> 00:31:24.640
with her. Yeah, which makes it worse. It's not

00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.079
like someone was in love with Kate and they were

00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:33.460
like, okay. Leon has big feelings, just not love

00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:41.680
feelings. Right, exactly. Okay. Stupid Cade.

00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:45.539
Although Cade gets this weird glimmer. I don't

00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.019
know if it's here or later. Maybe it's after

00:31:48.019 --> 00:31:51.880
like Leon forfeits, but Cade gets like angry

00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:55.619
on behalf of Lucy. Like he has this weird glimmer

00:31:55.619 --> 00:31:57.240
of humanity that I thought was very strange.

00:31:57.339 --> 00:31:58.960
The other thing that I thought was weird and

00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:02.599
confusing a little bit is everyone in Ophelia

00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:06.380
in what's Ophelia? Okay. I was like, that's not

00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:10.160
her name. Everyone in Ophelia's group knows each

00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:13.940
other outside of Phantasma. And then we get to

00:32:13.940 --> 00:32:16.619
the end, and there's random 30 -year -old dudes.

00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:18.380
And it just seems so, I mean, I get it makes

00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:21.220
sense. It's a small town. It's the turn of the

00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:24.400
century. There's not a lot of people. But they

00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.140
all have relationships. Kate and Lucy are cousins.

00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:33.190
Yeah, they're cousins. And Leon. is already friends

00:32:33.190 --> 00:32:35.549
with Lucy, and they are also already new. Genevieve,

00:32:36.750 --> 00:32:40.210
like, weird, man. Yeah. It is a little incest

00:32:40.210 --> 00:32:42.930
spaghetti for their particular cohort. But I

00:32:42.930 --> 00:32:45.369
also think that that's a product of who's left,

00:32:45.390 --> 00:32:47.049
because they started with a whole bunch of people

00:32:47.049 --> 00:32:49.329
that we never interacted with, and they didn't

00:32:49.329 --> 00:32:50.890
have any connection to them. So I think it's

00:32:50.890 --> 00:32:52.970
just a product of the story progressing. Which

00:32:52.970 --> 00:32:54.990
makes sense. And it didn't bother me, because

00:32:54.990 --> 00:32:57.369
there's, what, nine groups of 15 people each

00:32:57.369 --> 00:32:59.650
or something, random numbers. There's a lot of

00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:03.359
people in here. There's a lot of people. um but

00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:05.759
yeah so we'll get to the kade humanization thing

00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:08.160
because i have a theory about that okay good

00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:11.880
because i was like who dis what the fuck yeah

00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:16.240
so sometime after this challenge ophelia has

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:17.960
wandered the halls for a couple of hours trying

00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:20.880
to remove the trauma from her brain and that's

00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:23.240
when blackwell meets her and it's clear that

00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:25.910
he knows what happened with sinclair he's devastated

00:33:25.910 --> 00:33:28.029
and angry but she tells him look you're the one

00:33:28.029 --> 00:33:30.230
that made the decision for space and to stop

00:33:30.230 --> 00:33:33.609
giving into our feelings so like what do you

00:33:33.609 --> 00:33:36.089
want me to do like i was just trying it on what

00:33:36.089 --> 00:33:38.910
i do is like no concern of yours like i really

00:33:38.910 --> 00:33:41.309
need you to stop with this hot cold bullshit

00:33:41.309 --> 00:33:45.589
it's too much it's too much and he sees that

00:33:45.589 --> 00:33:48.339
his reaction and like this back and forth is

00:33:48.339 --> 00:33:50.619
hurting her even more. And so he agrees to leave

00:33:50.619 --> 00:33:52.819
her and says, quote, in a different life, in

00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:55.200
a fair one, I would have kept you until my eternal

00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:04.160
soul withered away to dust. Oh, it's okay. They'll

00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:11.719
still have it. Spoilers. So for the seventh challenge

00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:14.119
there are only three of her cohort left a woman

00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:17.679
named Charlotte and Cade and so in their like

00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:19.340
interaction this is when we learned that Leon

00:34:19.340 --> 00:34:22.139
forfeits and as a reaction to that Cade's like

00:34:22.139 --> 00:34:23.920
I'm gonna make his life a living fucking hell

00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.619
like he can't do that to my cousin and This to

00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:31.320
me was like like you were saying like what you're

00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:34.000
you don't you're not a human like that and I

00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:37.360
think it was the author's attempt at humanizing

00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:40.440
Cade so that what happens in the challenge feels

00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:45.840
more complex than it actually is. Okay, I could

00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:47.960
see that. It didn't feel more complex to me.

00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:54.519
I was like, yeah. Yeah, I do think that it's

00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:57.940
a little bit... Look, this book is well -executed.

00:34:58.019 --> 00:35:00.960
I think that the character of Cade is a little

00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:04.380
bit one -dimensional, and I think that's fine.

00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.199
It is fine. He's not even really the villain.

00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:12.960
He's just an obstacle in her way. But if anything,

00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.219
this just confused me. It didn't make what happens

00:35:15.219 --> 00:35:17.800
to Cade any more shocking to me. I figured that

00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:20.679
would happen at some point. It just made me be

00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:22.780
like, what? Because honestly, we knew that they

00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:25.159
were cousins, but we never even saw Cade and

00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:29.079
Lucy communicate ever. No. Yeah. So it was weird.

00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:31.639
Ostensibly, it seemed like they were there for

00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:34.380
the same reason. So it was weird that they weren't

00:35:35.070 --> 00:35:38.889
in cahoots. Collaborating more? Yeah, I think

00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:43.429
that might have made this human aspect more interesting.

00:35:44.250 --> 00:35:48.489
Also, OK, you're mad at Leon after he forfeits.

00:35:48.489 --> 00:35:50.329
You're not mad at him for not being in love with

00:35:50.329 --> 00:35:51.929
your cousin. That seems like the time you could

00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:55.750
be mad. Right. I mean, unless he just found out

00:35:55.750 --> 00:35:59.989
at that time. Yeah, that's true. But anyway.

00:35:59.989 --> 00:36:02.150
It was just weird. I'm glad you clocked it, too,

00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:07.380
because I was like, Shut up. Stop talking. Go

00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:11.420
away. Yeah. So anyway, before the challenge starts,

00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:14.539
Blackwell arrives and makes Ofelia promise to

00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:16.099
summon him immediately after she gets in the

00:36:16.099 --> 00:36:19.280
portal. When she goes through, we learn that

00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:22.039
this is a battle of wits based on choices. So

00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:24.280
in front of her, she's in a room again by herself,

00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:26.260
and in front of her, she has two choices. And

00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:28.219
it's that kind of thing. If two of you pick this,

00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:29.820
and if two of you pick this, and blah, blah,

00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:31.679
blah, blah, blah. So essentially, she summons

00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.500
Blackwell, and he tells her the choices of the

00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:35.739
other two contestants. And it's clear, based

00:36:35.739 --> 00:36:37.440
on their choices, that she will either have to

00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:39.380
battle Charlotte or battle Cade. And of course,

00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:44.099
she chooses Cade. Good. Good. And I got to say,

00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:46.019
we get a pretty badass fight between the two

00:36:46.019 --> 00:36:49.730
of them. It's hardcore. Ophelia uses her specter

00:36:49.730 --> 00:36:55.170
ability to great advantage. So at one point during

00:36:55.170 --> 00:36:58.309
the fight, Kade does manage to rip off her locket

00:36:58.309 --> 00:37:01.610
and Ophelia's heart begins to slow down and she

00:37:01.610 --> 00:37:03.230
knows that it's going to start stop beating,

00:37:03.269 --> 00:37:04.949
which is something that she didn't know was going

00:37:04.949 --> 00:37:07.630
to happen as a side effect. That's why I had

00:37:07.630 --> 00:37:09.889
the question of like no one in the whole history

00:37:09.889 --> 00:37:12.710
of her ancestors has ever like taken it off or

00:37:12.710 --> 00:37:16.170
broken it or like learned this on accident ever.

00:37:16.819 --> 00:37:18.699
Like, you couldn't have just said, this is your

00:37:18.699 --> 00:37:21.880
heart now. Take it off, and yours will stop beating.

00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:24.119
Because, like, it's already magic. And I just

00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:27.239
feel like if I were 15, and my mom was like,

00:37:27.260 --> 00:37:30.039
wear this forever, I'd be like, no, until I tried

00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:32.280
it, then be like, oh, OK, sorry. Yeah, like,

00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:36.340
you can't make me. Yeah, it just seems so strange.

00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:40.159
So she gets it back, and it's fine. But she's

00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:42.440
like, OK, don't take the locket off. Got it.

00:37:43.159 --> 00:37:45.219
But eventually during this fight she gets Kate

00:37:45.219 --> 00:37:47.579
on his back and after exhausting him with her

00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:50.380
specter ability He's got nothing else to do.

00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:53.739
So she uses the rest of her magic to blast into

00:37:53.739 --> 00:37:58.019
his face killing him And she tells us quote when

00:37:58.019 --> 00:38:00.139
she looked down at her hands She found them covered

00:38:00.139 --> 00:38:03.400
in scarlet but unlike Eric the shame and guilt

00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:05.820
was not immediate Ophelia found that she liked

00:38:05.820 --> 00:38:07.780
the blood on her hands just a little bit too

00:38:07.780 --> 00:38:13.039
much Listen Kate had it coming The world is better

00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:16.300
off without him. Yeah. And that's why I think

00:38:16.300 --> 00:38:18.159
the author was trying to make this a little bit

00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:21.260
more, like, of a gray choice than it actually

00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:24.320
was, because he's been such a, like, one -note

00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:26.559
asshole the entire time that I was like, yeah,

00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:28.639
the world's a better place without him. Exactly.

00:38:28.739 --> 00:38:30.400
Like, it would have been interesting. I'm glad

00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:33.099
we don't have it. But it could have been interesting

00:38:33.099 --> 00:38:37.099
to see. K to like through Lucy's eyes or through

00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:40.280
like memories like maybe he's just this person

00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:44.800
here because he has to be but When he dies, I'm

00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:51.659
like cool moving on badass So, of course It can't

00:38:51.659 --> 00:38:53.739
just be a victory for her. The shadow voice takes

00:38:53.739 --> 00:38:55.980
this opportunity to tell her, quote, Embrace

00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:58.639
your calling, harbinger of death, unleash your

00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:01.059
darkness on the world. And I'm like, oh, OK.

00:39:01.500 --> 00:39:04.380
That feels a little dramatic. A little dramatic.

00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:07.119
All right, fine. Also, like, whoa, I thought

00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:09.739
she didn't want to be dark. Like, yeah. Yeah,

00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:11.800
own what you did, girl, but like, unleash your

00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:13.699
darkness. That's what she's trying to avoid.

00:39:14.139 --> 00:39:17.699
Right. So speaking of unleashing your inner darkness,

00:39:17.820 --> 00:39:19.840
back at the ranch when she leaves the challenge,

00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:22.280
she gets to the dining room and she immediately

00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:24.719
realizes that something is off because the vibes

00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:28.280
are wrong. Soon, the physical manifestation of

00:39:28.280 --> 00:39:30.440
her shadow voice reveals itself and tells her

00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:33.719
that because she killed Cade, now he is free

00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:36.780
to run in the world and inflict his evil desires

00:39:36.780 --> 00:39:40.980
and demands on other people. Because of everything

00:39:40.980 --> 00:39:42.579
she's been through, she's finally at a point

00:39:42.579 --> 00:39:44.239
where she would rather bear the burden of the

00:39:44.239 --> 00:39:46.559
Shadow Voice herself than let it inflict itself

00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:48.780
upon other people. So she chases the Shadow Voice

00:39:48.780 --> 00:39:51.019
through the manor, and they get into a physical

00:39:51.019 --> 00:39:54.460
altercation. During this altercation, the Shadow

00:39:54.460 --> 00:39:57.320
Voice, like, rips into her chest and stomach

00:39:57.320 --> 00:39:59.539
and, like, is attacking her, and she cries out

00:39:59.539 --> 00:40:02.039
for Blackwell to come and, like, save her, but

00:40:02.039 --> 00:40:05.679
Blackwell does not come. This is really horrifying.

00:40:05.880 --> 00:40:09.699
I... Yeah. I feel like it took me too long to

00:40:09.699 --> 00:40:13.280
realize that this was phantasma enacting her

00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:15.440
greatest fear. Because honestly, it made sense

00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:18.059
to me that her ruthlessly killing someone released

00:40:18.059 --> 00:40:20.260
it. And I was like, oh, OK, so it is supernatural.

00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:23.599
Got it. And then when she chases it, I was like,

00:40:23.679 --> 00:40:25.000
oh, no, no, no, no. This is just her greatest

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.920
fear. OK, take two. But it doesn't even really

00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:32.039
matter. No, I also had that same thought, like,

00:40:32.260 --> 00:40:34.820
oh, yeah, this makes sense. I was still on the

00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:36.260
fence of whether or not the shadow voice was

00:40:36.260 --> 00:40:37.960
like supernatural or if it was like really a

00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:40.320
manifestation of OCD. But I just I really like

00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:42.320
the way this was done. Me too. It was so good.

00:40:42.340 --> 00:40:44.239
And I like the way it will get to it right here.

00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:46.440
But I like the way it all comes full circle.

00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:51.119
Yeah. So she wakes up and Blackwell is there.

00:40:51.260 --> 00:40:53.460
She's in the same spot where the shadow voice

00:40:53.460 --> 00:40:56.380
attacked her. And Blackwell is bringing her back

00:40:56.380 --> 00:40:58.699
from the brink of death based on her injuries.

00:40:59.400 --> 00:41:01.880
Blackwell tells her that She was the one who

00:41:01.880 --> 00:41:05.019
inflicted these injuries on herself and that

00:41:05.019 --> 00:41:06.920
the reason that she did so was because this was

00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:08.960
the haunting of her worst fear inflicted on her

00:41:08.960 --> 00:41:13.300
by the house, which was brilliant. It is brilliant.

00:41:13.579 --> 00:41:17.719
And I loved. His like saying like, this is you

00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:20.340
doing it to yourself, because even if the shadow

00:41:20.340 --> 00:41:22.800
voice was like real, it still was always her.

00:41:22.840 --> 00:41:25.340
So it's like, yeah, like even with the reveal

00:41:25.340 --> 00:41:28.079
of like it's all in your head like, but it's

00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:31.210
not. And it is. It is at the same time? Yeah.

00:41:31.409 --> 00:41:35.690
It was always you? Mm -hmm. Ugh. Ugh, so good.

00:41:36.809 --> 00:41:38.309
So Blackwell tells her he would have been there

00:41:38.309 --> 00:41:40.210
sooner, but because of her injuries, their link

00:41:40.210 --> 00:41:43.610
is very, very weak. Despite that, he felt her

00:41:43.610 --> 00:41:46.150
calling. He just didn't know where from. This

00:41:46.150 --> 00:41:47.909
is what I'm saying. Just like, just take one

00:41:47.909 --> 00:41:50.349
more year and can we just like double down our

00:41:50.349 --> 00:41:53.630
bond? Yes, just a little bit stronger. That would

00:41:53.630 --> 00:41:57.170
be great. That would be great. So when she's

00:41:57.170 --> 00:41:59.090
healed he asked to stay with her that night and

00:41:59.090 --> 00:42:01.630
she agrees but of course they don't just sleep

00:42:01.630 --> 00:42:05.369
No, she doesn't need sleep. No, of course not

00:42:05.369 --> 00:42:08.369
During the scene Blackwell tells her quote in

00:42:08.369 --> 00:42:10.610
all the darkness and all the loneliness You have

00:42:10.610 --> 00:42:13.469
been my one source of life. My soul will go to

00:42:13.469 --> 00:42:16.389
its grave with your name echoing in my mind.

00:42:17.889 --> 00:42:22.989
Oh I love their love. I know it's so good. It's

00:42:22.989 --> 00:42:26.860
so good But going back to the cock block of it

00:42:26.860 --> 00:42:29.079
all, they are again interrupted. But this time,

00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:31.760
it's by her sister Genevieve, who is indeed actually

00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:34.239
participating in Phantasma, which I was still

00:42:34.239 --> 00:42:37.139
50 -50 on. I was still 50 -50 on. And until we

00:42:37.139 --> 00:42:39.360
get the reveal of how she survived, I was like,

00:42:39.380 --> 00:42:42.559
maybe she's here. But this shit's hard. Yeah.

00:42:42.900 --> 00:42:45.219
How likely is it that she would actually survive?

00:42:45.659 --> 00:42:47.420
I had that same thought, too. And I was still

00:42:47.420 --> 00:42:51.480
on the fence. Up until she leaves, I'm like,

00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:55.739
this is sus. Well, again, when she shows up here,

00:42:55.780 --> 00:42:57.900
I was like, this is another trick. This isn't

00:42:57.900 --> 00:43:01.659
her. How can you prove it? This is a haunting.

00:43:01.659 --> 00:43:04.599
Also, they accept, I don't know. I think I would

00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:06.340
be a little bit more suspicious. But I guess

00:43:06.340 --> 00:43:09.099
Blackwell would know if it was a haunting. That's

00:43:09.099 --> 00:43:12.159
kind of what I thought, too. I had that thought,

00:43:12.219 --> 00:43:13.659
too. I was like, how do you know it's Genevieve?

00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:20.559
But he always clocks the hauntings. Yeah. So

00:43:20.559 --> 00:43:22.559
I was like, OK, he probably would have known.

00:43:22.780 --> 00:43:29.019
and said something yeah right right so Blackwell

00:43:29.019 --> 00:43:30.760
leaves them to talk alone and the sisters use

00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:32.880
this opportunity to catch up because it is actually

00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:35.179
Genevieve is not a haunting or like a fake or

00:43:35.179 --> 00:43:38.440
whatever and this conversation serves to break

00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:40.000
down the walls that had built up between them

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:42.119
because they start this conversation with the

00:43:42.119 --> 00:43:44.460
hurt that they both have from each other and

00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:45.800
they build back up from there which i thought

00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:48.539
was a good place to start yeah i'm glad it wasn't

00:43:48.539 --> 00:43:50.059
just the oh my god you're still alive i love

00:43:50.059 --> 00:43:53.710
you everything's fine Yeah, I did think that

00:43:53.710 --> 00:43:57.130
it was like, I don't know, I don't have a sister.

00:43:57.289 --> 00:43:59.289
So like the way that they greeted each other,

00:43:59.909 --> 00:44:01.289
Ophelia was just like, oh great, you're here,

00:44:01.309 --> 00:44:03.769
I knew you would be. And I would have had a wildly

00:44:03.769 --> 00:44:05.789
different reaction to that. Especially after

00:44:05.789 --> 00:44:08.889
all the trauma and all the horror. Yeah, I would

00:44:08.889 --> 00:44:11.750
have been like, you cunt, we're going home now.

00:44:12.130 --> 00:44:13.730
Right, like we're both forfeiting right this

00:44:13.730 --> 00:44:16.750
instant, let's go. How dare you do this to us.

00:44:18.570 --> 00:44:22.219
So. Genevieve shares with us in Ovelia that the

00:44:22.219 --> 00:44:24.039
debt that they're in is because Tessie Grimm

00:44:24.039 --> 00:44:26.239
bought a second house that was a complete secret.

00:44:26.699 --> 00:44:28.519
And her intent was that they could use this as

00:44:28.519 --> 00:44:31.440
a refuge from Gabriel, their father. But unfortunately,

00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:33.639
Tessie died before she could tell anybody about

00:44:33.639 --> 00:44:37.219
its location. And I'm like, cool. That's one

00:44:37.219 --> 00:44:39.719
thing that like, do they ever find out where

00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:42.079
this house is? Or is it just like some purchased

00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:44.820
house somewhere? It's just some purchased house.

00:44:44.940 --> 00:44:46.599
Even Ophelia in the moment says, well, that's

00:44:46.599 --> 00:44:48.059
a dead end. We're never going to figure that

00:44:48.059 --> 00:44:50.039
out. I'm like, there's got to be a different

00:44:50.039 --> 00:44:53.579
way. Wouldn't the bank know or someone? The bank

00:44:53.579 --> 00:44:56.239
or the deed or, I mean, you're about to be married

00:44:56.239 --> 00:44:58.219
to the Prince of Hell, so maybe he can do something.

00:44:58.239 --> 00:45:02.820
He could find something. Yeah. So we also learned

00:45:02.820 --> 00:45:04.860
that the reason that Genevieve has been so successful

00:45:04.860 --> 00:45:07.039
through this challenge is because she too has

00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:09.420
specter abilities that can turn her invisible.

00:45:10.199 --> 00:45:13.489
But she's been... She's known about them since

00:45:13.489 --> 00:45:15.610
she was, like, four, and is super good at using

00:45:15.610 --> 00:45:18.369
them. Yeah. So she's, like, full -on Spectre,

00:45:18.630 --> 00:45:20.730
where Genevieve, or sorry, Ophelia, is, like,

00:45:20.829 --> 00:45:23.730
a half -breed. Which I'd be kind of mad if my

00:45:23.730 --> 00:45:25.909
sister didn't tell me. I don't know. Especially

00:45:25.909 --> 00:45:27.530
if I thought there was, like, this resentment

00:45:27.530 --> 00:45:30.800
over magic, but, like, she has magic. Right.

00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.539
And then she even says, like, I always thought

00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:34.539
that you were not into the occult stuff. And

00:45:34.539 --> 00:45:36.019
Genevieve's like, it's not that I don't like

00:45:36.019 --> 00:45:37.559
it. It's that I don't want it to be forced down

00:45:37.559 --> 00:45:39.300
my throat all the time. And I'm like, could you

00:45:39.300 --> 00:45:41.400
guys have had this conversation earlier? Like,

00:45:41.480 --> 00:45:44.039
you're in your 20s. You've had so long to talk

00:45:44.039 --> 00:45:49.340
about this. Yeah. Regardless. Ophelia then goes

00:45:49.340 --> 00:45:51.860
on to share with Genevieve about Lucy and Cade,

00:45:52.219 --> 00:45:53.980
and Genevieve is proud of Ophelia for killing

00:45:53.980 --> 00:45:56.800
Cade, but heartbroken for Lucy. We still don't

00:45:56.800 --> 00:45:59.219
learn what kind of paranormal being Lucy is,

00:45:59.219 --> 00:46:01.599
but at the end, it's confirmed that she is some

00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:05.820
kind of thing. Maybe a seer or just like a witch

00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:08.300
or something. I don't know. But to go back to

00:46:08.300 --> 00:46:11.980
Cade for a second, Genevieve also knew Cade.

00:46:12.139 --> 00:46:13.559
And so the fact that Genevieve is like, cool,

00:46:13.639 --> 00:46:16.010
the world's better off. makes his weird human

00:46:16.010 --> 00:46:19.150
moment even more weird. Like, no one, Cade was

00:46:19.150 --> 00:46:21.690
not a good guy in the real world either. No,

00:46:21.829 --> 00:46:25.170
he wasn't a good guy. Which is even, it even

00:46:25.170 --> 00:46:28.550
like, if we want to get really like critical

00:46:28.550 --> 00:46:30.670
about it, like why did he even enter the competition

00:46:30.670 --> 00:46:35.000
to begin with? He ostensibly is there to save

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:36.500
his family. Why the fuck do you care about your

00:46:36.500 --> 00:46:38.380
family? And why would you do it like this? Like

00:46:38.380 --> 00:46:40.840
unless you take some sick joy out of participating,

00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:42.840
which you probably could have, I would believe

00:46:42.840 --> 00:46:45.059
that. But we didn't see that really. Otherwise,

00:46:45.099 --> 00:46:47.420
just go into a life of crime. Like exactly, because

00:46:47.420 --> 00:46:49.280
I think is capable and it's probably already

00:46:49.280 --> 00:46:54.400
doing it. Yeah. Anyway. So Ophelia then apologizes

00:46:54.400 --> 00:46:56.119
for what she said to Genevieve on the day they

00:46:56.119 --> 00:46:58.119
both entered the competition. And Genevieve tells

00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:00.000
her, quote, I'm sorry if you ever thought for

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:02.400
a second you drove me here. I was coming here

00:47:02.400 --> 00:47:05.539
either way. It was always my plan. What you said

00:47:05.539 --> 00:47:08.139
that day, you weren't wrong. You've always cleaned

00:47:08.139 --> 00:47:09.860
up my messes and I just wanted to do something

00:47:09.860 --> 00:47:15.780
for you for once. Oh, okay. So on the heels of

00:47:15.780 --> 00:47:17.960
that conversation, Genevieve agrees to help Blackwell

00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:20.440
and Ophelia find the heart and key in the time

00:47:20.440 --> 00:47:22.119
that they have left in the competition. So they

00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:23.719
spend the rest of the time before the next challenge

00:47:23.719 --> 00:47:25.820
searching the manor since they have all of these

00:47:25.820 --> 00:47:27.460
new places and wings of the house that they could

00:47:27.460 --> 00:47:30.780
go that they couldn't access before. Ophelia

00:47:30.780 --> 00:47:32.480
finds that the three of them get along actually

00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:34.460
quite nicely, and her heart aches at the thought

00:47:34.460 --> 00:47:37.340
of this moment being so fleeting. They then talk

00:47:37.340 --> 00:47:39.079
about a game plan for the rest of the competition,

00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:41.360
and Blackwell and Ophelia are both of the mind

00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:43.880
that Genevieve should forfeit, since the two

00:47:43.880 --> 00:47:45.860
of them have the advantage of being in a blood

00:47:45.860 --> 00:47:48.239
agreement with each other. And there's not really

00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:50.840
a need for both Genevieve and Ophelia to compete,

00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:53.239
especially because if they both complete level

00:47:53.239 --> 00:47:55.320
eight, they're gonna have to compete to get to

00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:59.280
level nine anyway. Which is... This made sense

00:47:59.280 --> 00:48:01.460
to me. If one of you is going to stay in, it

00:48:01.460 --> 00:48:03.719
should be Genevieve. I mean, excuse me, it should

00:48:03.719 --> 00:48:07.960
be Ophelia. Right, exactly. Genevieve, I know

00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:10.280
you're trying to do a nice thing here, but you

00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:13.699
did great. Totally. I've got a secret weapon,

00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:17.119
so let me do this. Exactly. So you can go now.

00:48:18.480 --> 00:48:21.199
So before they can agree to this plan, Sinclair

00:48:21.199 --> 00:48:24.059
arrives and immediately gets into a verbal altercation

00:48:24.059 --> 00:48:25.780
with Blackwell. And this prompts Genevieve to

00:48:25.780 --> 00:48:28.280
say to Ophelia, Please tell me they're fighting

00:48:28.280 --> 00:48:31.500
over you, which I loved. I loved it, too. Well,

00:48:31.579 --> 00:48:33.500
because Genevieve has already met Sinclair, and

00:48:33.500 --> 00:48:35.619
he's really hot. His eyes are kind of creepy,

00:48:35.820 --> 00:48:38.420
but like, boy's fine. And so it's just fine.

00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:44.639
And Ophelia's like, eh. No, eh. But it's clear

00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:47.400
in this brief conversation that Sinclair is way

00:48:47.400 --> 00:48:49.480
too happy about Genevieve and Ophelia finding

00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:51.159
each other. And we even learned that he's the

00:48:51.159 --> 00:48:54.079
one that gave Genevieve the hint that her sister

00:48:54.079 --> 00:48:57.659
was there. And this just all but confirms for

00:48:57.659 --> 00:48:59.780
Ophelia in Blackwell that it's not a good idea

00:48:59.780 --> 00:49:01.860
for Genevieve to stay in the competition. So

00:49:01.860 --> 00:49:03.800
she agrees to forfeit before the beginning of

00:49:03.800 --> 00:49:07.519
the next trial. Until the point that she actually

00:49:07.519 --> 00:49:10.659
forfeits, I 100 % thought that something was

00:49:10.659 --> 00:49:13.699
sus here. But then part of me was like, we're

00:49:13.699 --> 00:49:15.500
83 % of the way through the book. It would be

00:49:15.500 --> 00:49:17.500
really hard to wrap that up in less than 100

00:49:17.500 --> 00:49:19.980
pages. I don't know. It just felt like she gave

00:49:19.980 --> 00:49:23.420
it up too easy. I know. I had the same thought.

00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:27.179
I still have mixed feelings on it because I think

00:49:27.179 --> 00:49:30.139
I'm a little confused about Sinclair's motive

00:49:30.139 --> 00:49:34.179
here. I guess, okay, we'll get to the next competition,

00:49:34.559 --> 00:49:37.380
but does Genevieve have to leave for that competition

00:49:37.380 --> 00:49:41.059
to happen? Yes, because I think if she had stayed

00:49:41.059 --> 00:49:42.519
in the competition, it would have been somebody

00:49:42.519 --> 00:49:44.980
else. And she doesn't care about anybody else.

00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:48.119
Right. Okay. That makes sense to me. That's why

00:49:48.119 --> 00:49:51.590
he wants her to... That's why he orchestrates

00:49:51.590 --> 00:49:52.989
this whole thing. Like, I'm so glad you found

00:49:52.989 --> 00:49:54.150
each other. That way, she'd be like, you got

00:49:54.150 --> 00:50:00.530
to go. Yeah, exactly. Tricky. So we get to the

00:50:00.530 --> 00:50:02.289
beginning of the next trial, and Genevieve does,

00:50:02.449 --> 00:50:04.650
in fact, surrender, leaving Ophelia and Blackwell

00:50:04.650 --> 00:50:06.730
to face the next challenge on their own. And

00:50:06.730 --> 00:50:08.469
this is the challenge that we're talking about

00:50:08.469 --> 00:50:10.010
that would have been different if Genevieve had

00:50:10.010 --> 00:50:13.519
stayed, because this one is based on fraud. And

00:50:13.519 --> 00:50:15.840
in this challenge, there are two versions of

00:50:15.840 --> 00:50:17.539
somebody that the contestant cares about. And

00:50:17.539 --> 00:50:19.980
for Ophelia, that person is Genevieve. And her

00:50:19.980 --> 00:50:22.699
task is for her to choose which is the real one.

00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:26.780
So Blackwell comes when he's summoned. And he

00:50:26.780 --> 00:50:29.199
tells her that in order to figure out which one

00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:34.420
is fake, Ophelia has to ask Genevieve questions

00:50:34.420 --> 00:50:37.500
that speak to Genevieve's judgment rather than

00:50:37.500 --> 00:50:39.559
memories because the house has access to all

00:50:39.559 --> 00:50:44.119
of Genevieve's memories. I'm so glad that Ophelia

00:50:44.119 --> 00:50:46.760
is smarter than me, because that tripped me up.

00:50:46.820 --> 00:50:48.519
He was like, well, it can't be based on memory,

00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:49.860
because the house knows your memories. I'm like,

00:50:49.940 --> 00:50:52.039
how could she ask her something that she doesn't

00:50:52.039 --> 00:50:55.179
know, though? I know. But I think the question

00:50:55.179 --> 00:50:58.579
that she asked was really smart. It was really

00:50:58.579 --> 00:51:00.880
smart. Wicked smart. And the way she understands

00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:06.519
the answers, super smart. Yeah. There's one catch,

00:51:06.900 --> 00:51:09.739
and that is that Blackwell shares that if Ophelia

00:51:09.739 --> 00:51:11.980
or anybody chooses incorrectly, then the real

00:51:11.980 --> 00:51:15.039
Genevieve in the real world will die, which is

00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:16.699
why Genevieve had to leave the competition in

00:51:16.699 --> 00:51:19.500
order for this to be such high stakes. Because

00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:21.519
honestly, who else would it have chosen? Like

00:51:21.519 --> 00:51:23.579
Lucy, maybe? Like she doesn't have any other

00:51:23.579 --> 00:51:28.059
friends. It's literally no one. But. Ophelia

00:51:28.059 --> 00:51:30.679
immediately puts two and four together to make

00:51:30.679 --> 00:51:33.159
six and realizes that this is how her mother

00:51:33.159 --> 00:51:35.659
died and why Gabriel gave up during his second

00:51:35.659 --> 00:51:38.699
phantasma. He chose wrong and because of his

00:51:38.699 --> 00:51:42.619
choice Tessie Grimm died. So was Gabriel still

00:51:42.619 --> 00:51:47.659
alive somewhere? Yes. Okay. But obviously Tessie

00:51:47.659 --> 00:51:51.440
Grimm is not. Nope. And it makes sense why she

00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:54.139
literally just dropped dead because we get I

00:51:54.139 --> 00:51:55.599
don't think we got it in the start of this book.

00:51:55.960 --> 00:51:58.000
But here, Ophelia says something like, oh, it

00:51:58.000 --> 00:51:59.599
wasn't a heart attack. And I was like, did we

00:51:59.599 --> 00:52:05.059
think it was a heart attack? Yeah, we maybe got

00:52:05.059 --> 00:52:06.820
that information. I might have just breezed right

00:52:06.820 --> 00:52:08.840
over it. But regardless, we didn't get a whole

00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:10.579
lot of discussion about how she died. And I'm

00:52:10.579 --> 00:52:14.139
like, that's a big question for me. And so I'm

00:52:14.139 --> 00:52:18.139
so happy that we got a resolution to that question.

00:52:18.219 --> 00:52:20.619
And then it's a good resolution. It was like,

00:52:21.239 --> 00:52:25.159
oh, damn. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. And it makes sense

00:52:25.159 --> 00:52:27.539
for what Blackwell said earlier of it became

00:52:27.539 --> 00:52:30.320
very clear to me that Gabriel lost. Yes, exactly.

00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:32.659
Because he lost the only thing he cares about.

00:52:33.079 --> 00:52:37.159
Yeah. So eventually, Ophelia declares that neither

00:52:37.159 --> 00:52:39.639
of these versions of Genevieve in front of her

00:52:39.639 --> 00:52:42.380
are her sister. And it turns out that that's

00:52:42.380 --> 00:52:44.579
the correct answer, which is insidious. That

00:52:44.579 --> 00:52:48.039
is a trick question, and that is not fair. Correct.

00:52:49.119 --> 00:52:51.380
So when she leaves this challenge victorious

00:52:51.380 --> 00:52:53.619
She's determined to go see the Prince of Devils

00:52:53.619 --> 00:52:55.199
immediately because she thinks that she gets

00:52:55.199 --> 00:52:57.179
all the pieces and she thinks that she's won

00:52:57.179 --> 00:53:01.280
Okay, so real quick It's either really insidious

00:53:01.280 --> 00:53:03.980
or really obvious because if Blackwell says if

00:53:03.980 --> 00:53:06.800
you choose wrong The real one dies in the real

00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:09.420
world that already tells you that she's not here

00:53:09.420 --> 00:53:13.280
Yeah, but right that that's the thing for me.

00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:21.909
That was like What like I don't know, I don't

00:53:21.909 --> 00:53:23.630
know if I'm, so now I'm getting in my head about

00:53:23.630 --> 00:53:25.590
it because I'm like, did they say that it was

00:53:25.590 --> 00:53:27.389
copies? Did he say it was copies? Did I just

00:53:27.389 --> 00:53:28.789
think that it was copies? Because I know it's

00:53:28.789 --> 00:53:30.570
not the real one. I'm like, how much do you believe

00:53:30.570 --> 00:53:33.210
that your real world person was teleported into

00:53:33.210 --> 00:53:35.329
this place? And then my question would be like,

00:53:35.389 --> 00:53:36.670
okay, you were teleported here. What were you

00:53:36.670 --> 00:53:41.610
doing right before? Yeah. But yeah, to your point,

00:53:41.750 --> 00:53:44.010
it's either really obvious or kind of like that

00:53:44.010 --> 00:53:45.889
was just a slip and it just happened to be true.

00:53:46.119 --> 00:53:48.320
I think it's both, and I hate it. I mean, I love

00:53:48.320 --> 00:53:52.239
it. I hate it because I'm like, oh, shit, that's

00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:59.800
so scary. My brain. Yeah. So before she does

00:53:59.800 --> 00:54:02.239
this, Sinclair pops in and tries to stop her.

00:54:02.579 --> 00:54:04.900
But he's also in disbelief that she can summon

00:54:04.900 --> 00:54:07.179
the portal to go see the Prince of Hell anyway.

00:54:08.159 --> 00:54:10.199
Blackwell, on the other hand, is incandescent

00:54:10.199 --> 00:54:12.800
that Ophelia is like, kicking ass and taking

00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:14.679
names and winning, and encourages her to keep

00:54:14.679 --> 00:54:17.280
going. So she summons the portal, and Blackwell

00:54:17.280 --> 00:54:19.699
promises her, quote, with every ounce of my soul,

00:54:19.739 --> 00:54:21.400
when you go through that door, it will not be

00:54:21.400 --> 00:54:24.860
the last time I see you. Little does he know.

00:54:25.380 --> 00:54:27.579
Yeah, little do either of them know. Anybody

00:54:27.579 --> 00:54:30.719
know. OK, so just point of order. Would there

00:54:30.719 --> 00:54:34.219
have been a ninth competition? Did she, like,

00:54:34.320 --> 00:54:38.039
skip a step? I think so. Because it would have

00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:39.519
been like a fight to the death, right? Like,

00:54:39.519 --> 00:54:44.400
she skipped something. Mean The ninth level of

00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:48.500
hell is treachery, but it's Satan frozen in ice

00:54:48.500 --> 00:54:51.440
in the center So I don't think that there would

00:54:51.440 --> 00:54:54.679
have been I mean Maybe technically like the challenge

00:54:54.679 --> 00:54:56.539
would be to get to the level 9 if there were

00:54:56.539 --> 00:55:00.539
more people that survived level 8. Yeah, I Don't

00:55:00.539 --> 00:55:03.840
know weird unclear. Just curious doesn't matter

00:55:03.840 --> 00:55:06.619
happy to be here. Happy to be here So Ophelia

00:55:06.619 --> 00:55:09.159
goes through the portal and she's transported

00:55:09.159 --> 00:55:12.199
into a dark, featureless room. So she calls for

00:55:12.199 --> 00:55:14.539
Salem, the Prince of Hell, and when nothing happens,

00:55:14.559 --> 00:55:17.500
she calls for Blackwell. And eventually Blackwell

00:55:17.500 --> 00:55:21.219
does appear, but he reintroduces himself as Salem

00:55:21.219 --> 00:55:25.280
Erasimus Blackwell, Prince of Devils. And he's

00:55:25.280 --> 00:55:29.619
different. He's all more suave and he's like,

00:55:29.719 --> 00:55:33.139
hello, Ophelia. Yeah, he like knows exactly who

00:55:33.139 --> 00:55:35.860
he is. He's just Draco Malfoy incarnate. I love

00:55:35.860 --> 00:55:40.519
it. It's Draco Malfoy for sure. Yeah. So before

00:55:40.519 --> 00:55:44.760
this real day interaction resolves, we get a

00:55:44.760 --> 00:55:47.679
flashback from Salem slash Blackwell's perspective

00:55:47.679 --> 00:55:51.079
of the day that his imprisonment happened. And

00:55:51.079 --> 00:55:53.239
we learned that it had been a year, question

00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:55.119
mark, since his beloved had disappeared and been

00:55:55.119 --> 00:55:58.559
taken from him. And as a last resort, he goes

00:55:58.559 --> 00:56:01.739
back to his father, the King of Hell. and i think

00:56:01.739 --> 00:56:04.059
he doesn't really expect his father to like give

00:56:04.059 --> 00:56:09.420
up his beloved or still have her yeah and so

00:56:09.420 --> 00:56:11.619
like he's asking what happened and his father's

00:56:11.619 --> 00:56:14.940
like i look i know your true name the jig is

00:56:14.940 --> 00:56:20.320
up so you're you're my bitch now essentially

00:56:20.320 --> 00:56:23.139
why do your father not know your true name where

00:56:23.139 --> 00:56:26.409
do true names come from I don't know. It's some

00:56:26.409 --> 00:56:28.570
face shit. I don't know. It is some face shit.

00:56:28.750 --> 00:56:30.210
And again, this one seems like it didn't really

00:56:30.210 --> 00:56:32.989
bother me, but I'm kind of like, okay. Didn't

00:56:32.989 --> 00:56:38.329
you name him? I don't know. So we learned that

00:56:38.329 --> 00:56:41.690
the King of Hell learned Salem's true name by

00:56:41.690 --> 00:56:44.389
torturing Salem's beloved until she gave it to

00:56:44.389 --> 00:56:46.670
him. And in this conversation, we also learned

00:56:46.670 --> 00:56:48.730
that the reason that the King of Hell is so butthurt

00:56:48.730 --> 00:56:51.469
about this whole relationship is that he sees

00:56:51.469 --> 00:56:54.170
Salem's relationship with this woman as weakness.

00:56:54.960 --> 00:56:58.579
and so wants to burn that out, essentially. Ouch.

00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:02.659
Salem begs his father to punish him rather than

00:57:02.659 --> 00:57:05.860
his beloved and his dad's like, yeah, I'm going

00:57:05.860 --> 00:57:10.059
to do both of those things. He brings out this

00:57:10.059 --> 00:57:12.739
poor woman who we only know as Angel, which is

00:57:12.739 --> 00:57:14.579
what Salem calls her. I think that's her name

00:57:14.579 --> 00:57:18.280
because he says it with a capital A here. Does

00:57:18.280 --> 00:57:20.840
he say with a capital A at the end of a sentence

00:57:20.840 --> 00:57:22.860
or is it just beginning of the sentence, capital

00:57:22.860 --> 00:57:26.550
A, Angel? Hmm, I'm gonna check. Okay, I read

00:57:26.550 --> 00:57:28.670
it like it was her like actual name But then

00:57:28.670 --> 00:57:30.469
I was like, would it be cool if she was an angel?

00:57:30.949 --> 00:57:33.150
But it would be cool if she was an angel I still

00:57:33.150 --> 00:57:34.650
suspect that maybe there's an angel connection

00:57:34.650 --> 00:57:36.889
here or there could be because there is a heaven.

00:57:36.889 --> 00:57:40.250
Okay, I'm gonna check Okay, I think it's her

00:57:40.250 --> 00:57:44.929
name. So this line during this True name it says

00:57:44.929 --> 00:57:46.690
his father knew his true name every threat He

00:57:46.690 --> 00:57:48.730
wanted to aim at the man was empty and now that

00:57:48.730 --> 00:57:52.070
angel capital a had been taken He didn't have

00:57:52.070 --> 00:57:54.559
anything left to fight for anyway Got it. Okay.

00:57:54.559 --> 00:57:57.840
So maybe it is her name angel. I like that. Yeah

00:57:57.840 --> 00:58:02.760
So poor angel is a bloody tortured mess but still

00:58:02.760 --> 00:58:05.480
alive and They're able to hold each other for

00:58:05.480 --> 00:58:08.380
a brief moment and confess their love Salem vows

00:58:08.380 --> 00:58:11.260
never to forget her and then his father rips

00:58:11.260 --> 00:58:16.639
angels heart out of her chest cool cool cool

00:58:16.639 --> 00:58:19.559
cool cool Immediately afterward he imprisons

00:58:19.559 --> 00:58:21.719
Salem in Phantasma and he tells him that there

00:58:21.719 --> 00:58:23.780
is a loophole and if Salem does manage to free

00:58:23.780 --> 00:58:26.119
himself that he will be rewarded with everyone

00:58:26.119 --> 00:58:30.079
he knows who knows his real name to forget it.

00:58:30.500 --> 00:58:34.940
So you can't be no one's bitch. Correct. So after

00:58:34.940 --> 00:58:37.860
Salem is imprisoned we see the king summoning

00:58:37.860 --> 00:58:39.719
another member of his court who puts the soul

00:58:39.719 --> 00:58:42.880
of Salem's beloved into a locket and then grants

00:58:42.880 --> 00:58:45.139
that heart -shaped locket to a necromancer in

00:58:45.139 --> 00:58:48.179
their dungeon named Hestia Grimm and thus the

00:58:48.179 --> 00:58:49.860
Grimm family came into the possession of the

00:58:49.860 --> 00:58:53.300
locket. Okay just go on the journey with me.

00:58:53.539 --> 00:58:55.420
You're a necromancer who has been imprisoned

00:58:55.420 --> 00:58:59.099
by Satan and then some dude hands you a piece

00:58:59.099 --> 00:59:01.440
of jewelry and is like you're free to go now.

00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:04.760
I would have about 17 follow -up questions. Don't

00:59:04.760 --> 00:59:09.440
ever take the locket off. Good luck! Yeah or

00:59:09.440 --> 00:59:13.489
I mean it can't just be that they handed her

00:59:13.489 --> 00:59:16.369
the locket because their magic is tied to it,

00:59:16.570 --> 00:59:19.730
I think. Right. Yeah, it is. So that had to be

00:59:19.730 --> 00:59:23.369
a painful process. Yes, I think so too. But I

00:59:23.369 --> 00:59:25.070
would still have about 17 follow -up questions.

00:59:25.630 --> 00:59:31.670
Yeah, I just get to go now? OK. OK. So back in

00:59:31.670 --> 00:59:33.949
present day, Ophelia doesn't understand what's

00:59:33.949 --> 00:59:36.769
happening because, as we've said before in our

00:59:36.769 --> 00:59:39.150
coverage, Blackwell doesn't have a demon mark.

00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:42.519
But then he tells her that his demon mark is

00:59:42.519 --> 00:59:44.940
actually his white hair, which is rather convenient

00:59:44.940 --> 00:59:48.159
as a ghost. Oh my God. I loved this so much.

00:59:48.659 --> 00:59:52.500
Honestly, it was like brilliant. Full applause.

00:59:52.940 --> 00:59:56.000
No notes. Love it so much. Thank you, Draco Malfoy.

00:59:56.260 --> 00:59:59.079
Absolutely. And it makes sense to me because

00:59:59.079 --> 01:00:03.219
a hair, it can be interpreted as a crown. Yes.

01:00:03.800 --> 01:00:06.420
Yeah. Brilliant. It was brilliant. And then like

01:00:06.420 --> 01:00:08.119
he himself doesn't know because like it's just

01:00:08.119 --> 01:00:11.000
his hair. Yeah, it's just he's a ghost. He has

01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:12.579
white hair. Sometimes that happens, I guess.

01:00:12.860 --> 01:00:15.199
Yeah, I don't know. I love it. I was like, yep.

01:00:16.019 --> 01:00:21.559
Praise Kaley Smith. So when he goes on to share

01:00:21.559 --> 01:00:24.380
that when Sinclair told Ophelia the story about

01:00:24.380 --> 01:00:26.940
Salem himself He was talking about Blackwell

01:00:26.940 --> 01:00:29.199
and Salem as if they were different people But

01:00:29.199 --> 01:00:31.900
he knew that they were one because of the curse

01:00:31.900 --> 01:00:34.059
he had to keep them separate because though he

01:00:34.059 --> 01:00:36.239
can talk about Salem He can't like specifically

01:00:36.239 --> 01:00:38.699
identify who Salem is within the competition.

01:00:39.139 --> 01:00:43.280
Hmm He also shares that during the time of the

01:00:43.280 --> 01:00:45.539
competitions, Blackwell doesn't know who he is.

01:00:45.599 --> 01:00:47.900
But between competitions, he's his true self.

01:00:47.940 --> 01:00:50.820
So when they met the first time before the competition,

01:00:50.920 --> 01:00:55.380
he was the real version of himself. Which is

01:00:55.380 --> 01:00:57.679
why he remembered his loophole. Exactly. I'm

01:00:57.679 --> 01:01:00.199
so glad that we got this explanation. And it

01:01:00.199 --> 01:01:02.780
wasn't too much. It didn't feel like this weird

01:01:02.780 --> 01:01:05.539
retroactive info dump. It answered all my questions,

01:01:05.559 --> 01:01:10.219
and it was really succinct. Yeah, we'll get to

01:01:10.219 --> 01:01:12.139
it in our ratings, but one of my highest praise

01:01:12.139 --> 01:01:15.199
for this book is that it fits such a complex

01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:18.400
story into such a small relative amount of time.

01:01:18.840 --> 01:01:21.059
Yeah, because this is a complex reveal too that

01:01:21.059 --> 01:01:22.699
really could have been fumbled, and I think it

01:01:22.699 --> 01:01:25.699
was handled very beautifully. Yeah, exactly.

01:01:27.400 --> 01:01:30.179
So we also learn that Poe, the cat, is a player

01:01:30.179 --> 01:01:32.820
in this because he's the spy of the King of Hell,

01:01:33.139 --> 01:01:37.130
keeping an eye on things. I love that cat. So

01:01:37.130 --> 01:01:38.889
Ophelia is devastated because she thought that

01:01:38.889 --> 01:01:41.989
coming here to the Prince of Hell would enable

01:01:41.989 --> 01:01:45.510
her to free Blackwell. Blackwell tells her to

01:01:45.510 --> 01:01:47.769
not waste any more time or emotions on him because

01:01:47.769 --> 01:01:50.110
it's not worth it. Ophelia tells him that she

01:01:50.110 --> 01:01:51.730
was going to use her devil's grant to find a

01:01:51.730 --> 01:01:54.409
way to free him. But during her confession she

01:01:54.409 --> 01:01:56.750
realizes that what he needs to free himself is

01:01:56.750 --> 01:01:58.469
the locket that she wears around her neck and

01:01:58.469 --> 01:02:00.369
so she takes it off and gives it to him freely.

01:02:00.829 --> 01:02:03.150
She tells him that she loves him and he begs

01:02:03.150 --> 01:02:04.829
her to stop because he knows that the curse will

01:02:04.829 --> 01:02:07.949
affect her. only outside of the walls of Phantasma,

01:02:08.489 --> 01:02:10.389
even if it doesn't affect him because he's a

01:02:10.389 --> 01:02:13.150
devil. But she tells him that's okay, quote,

01:02:13.309 --> 01:02:15.449
I want you to know that I will gladly take on

01:02:15.449 --> 01:02:17.110
whatever this place is going to curse me with,

01:02:17.210 --> 01:02:18.889
knowing you will finally get out of the hell

01:02:18.889 --> 01:02:23.070
you've been trapped in for so long. Oh, so the

01:02:23.070 --> 01:02:25.170
locket breaks apart in Blackwell's hands and

01:02:25.170 --> 01:02:27.090
it frees him from the curse, restoring him to

01:02:27.090 --> 01:02:29.550
full power and untethering him from Phantasma.

01:02:30.190 --> 01:02:32.780
But He vows to not let his father take a filia

01:02:32.780 --> 01:02:35.300
from him again. So he offers to first return

01:02:35.300 --> 01:02:37.840
to her a working heart as her prize for winning

01:02:37.840 --> 01:02:40.960
the competition. And she agrees to that. Thanks.

01:02:41.519 --> 01:02:46.199
Cool. The least you can do. Once she's physically

01:02:46.199 --> 01:02:48.940
stabilized, he says that the curse will take

01:02:48.940 --> 01:02:51.139
something else to break it. And he says, look,

01:02:51.139 --> 01:02:53.340
I can break it, but you have to give me your

01:02:53.340 --> 01:02:56.420
soul. I promise I'll give it right back unchanged

01:02:56.420 --> 01:03:00.260
immediately afterwards. But she's like, no, no.

01:03:00.519 --> 01:03:05.500
Hard pass. Not on that. So he tells her, look,

01:03:05.619 --> 01:03:07.840
I need a powerful tether because Phantasma is

01:03:07.840 --> 01:03:09.460
falling apart. It can no longer tether me to

01:03:09.460 --> 01:03:11.099
this plane. And if I don't have one, then I'm

01:03:11.099 --> 01:03:14.579
going to go back to hell. So she's like, what

01:03:14.579 --> 01:03:20.699
about me as your tether? Hello. Hi. Hello. And

01:03:20.699 --> 01:03:22.840
he tells her, that could work. But if you do

01:03:22.840 --> 01:03:24.360
this, we're going to spend eternity together.

01:03:24.539 --> 01:03:26.880
Like, you will have an immortal lifespan with

01:03:26.880 --> 01:03:31.179
me. And she agrees. So he tells her quote I would

01:03:31.179 --> 01:03:33.219
trade every other soul in the world if it meant

01:03:33.219 --> 01:03:40.119
I would get to keep you forever. So we get a

01:03:40.119 --> 01:03:41.619
little bit of an epilogue after this that shows

01:03:41.619 --> 01:03:43.860
the aftermath of Phantasma and I think the author

01:03:43.860 --> 01:03:46.699
intentionally buries the lead here because Ophelia

01:03:46.699 --> 01:03:51.260
just goes on and on and on about like the controller

01:03:51.260 --> 01:03:53.099
of the shadow voice that she's gotten and how

01:03:53.099 --> 01:03:54.860
she and Genevieve are putting their life back

01:03:54.860 --> 01:03:57.119
together and Lucy and blah blah blah blah blah

01:03:57.119 --> 01:03:59.380
and then she finally gets home and of course

01:03:59.519 --> 01:04:01.780
Blackwell is there, and the three of them are

01:04:01.780 --> 01:04:03.880
getting a happily ever after. And they're going

01:04:03.880 --> 01:04:06.380
to travel the world. They're going to travel

01:04:06.380 --> 01:04:09.260
the world. And Ophelia ends the book by telling

01:04:09.260 --> 01:04:12.539
us that she, quote, revels in the little piece

01:04:12.539 --> 01:04:14.860
of heaven that she saved from the dark depths

01:04:14.860 --> 01:04:19.679
of hell. It's so good. Even the epilogue where

01:04:19.679 --> 01:04:21.639
she was bearing the lead, I was like, OK, come

01:04:21.639 --> 01:04:25.320
on, just reveal it. And I still. Because Blackwell

01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:27.400
even says, like, hey, like, your life will be

01:04:27.400 --> 01:04:29.079
tied to mine, but we don't have to be together.

01:04:29.119 --> 01:04:30.739
Like, if you don't want to be with me, that's

01:04:30.739 --> 01:04:34.099
fine. And I feel like she was trying to be like,

01:04:34.099 --> 01:04:35.539
oh, look, they're not together. Like, no, no,

01:04:35.539 --> 01:04:38.380
no. You can't pull the wool over my eyes on this.

01:04:38.480 --> 01:04:41.380
Mm -mm. Also, also, he's the Prince of Hell,

01:04:41.400 --> 01:04:43.800
and he's just going to, like, live in New Orleans?

01:04:44.039 --> 01:04:46.139
I just, that's the only thing I want to know.

01:04:46.179 --> 01:04:48.179
Like, what does Blackwell's, like, day -to -day

01:04:48.179 --> 01:04:50.300
life look like, and what does his father think

01:04:50.300 --> 01:04:53.869
about this? I know. I think that's the only thing

01:04:53.869 --> 01:04:55.510
that I wish we'd gotten a little bit more wrap

01:04:55.510 --> 01:04:58.550
up. We had talked about in our debrief, I would

01:04:58.550 --> 01:05:01.170
definitely read the follow on sequel of the devil

01:05:01.170 --> 01:05:03.369
having to find a new bride to get a new heir

01:05:03.369 --> 01:05:06.469
because his son just fucked off. It's just like,

01:05:06.550 --> 01:05:08.409
I'm going to go live an immortal, mortal life.

01:05:08.570 --> 01:05:10.769
I'm just going to go work at a cobbler. Bye,

01:05:10.889 --> 01:05:15.690
bitch. Goodbye. I hope we see Blackwell in the

01:05:15.690 --> 01:05:17.789
subsequent book just to get like a check in on

01:05:17.789 --> 01:05:20.590
like, what does your life look like? I hope we

01:05:20.590 --> 01:05:23.610
do too. Just like, by the way, this is what normalcy

01:05:23.610 --> 01:05:33.030
looks like. Yeah. So strange. Anyway, let's get

01:05:33.030 --> 01:05:37.489
into our ratings. Yes. So we are in agreement.

01:05:38.079 --> 01:05:41.340
How did we rate the spice level? OK, we both

01:05:41.340 --> 01:05:44.519
gave it a four. The only reason it wasn't a five

01:05:44.519 --> 01:05:46.380
for me, and this is going to sound so weird,

01:05:46.559 --> 01:05:48.380
but whatever, is it was just pretty vanilla.

01:05:48.639 --> 01:05:50.619
OK, they have sex in blood rain, fine, but the

01:05:50.619 --> 01:05:54.719
rest of it is pretty missionary. We have some

01:05:54.719 --> 01:05:58.139
great oral scenes, but it was pretty straight

01:05:58.139 --> 01:06:02.820
heterosexual, non -adventurous sex, the exemption

01:06:02.820 --> 01:06:05.739
of the blood rain. Right. It's great. The scenes

01:06:05.739 --> 01:06:07.760
are great. I do wish we got one more scene because

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:09.980
the last two potential scenes get cock blocked

01:06:09.980 --> 01:06:12.039
and we don't get like a final wrap up scene.

01:06:12.119 --> 01:06:14.739
I would have loved a scene with him and his like

01:06:14.739 --> 01:06:17.920
full Prince of Hell glory. Yeah, that would have

01:06:17.920 --> 01:06:20.860
been great. Full magic. So that made it not a

01:06:20.860 --> 01:06:24.000
five for me. But honestly, one handed reading

01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:26.780
club. It was great. It had all the things we

01:06:26.780 --> 01:06:28.699
like. It had we had enough of it. I didn't feel

01:06:28.699 --> 01:06:31.559
like we got skimped on any of it. Yeah. And it

01:06:31.559 --> 01:06:33.440
happened early enough. And halfway through, we

01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:34.739
started getting smut scenes. And I was like,

01:06:34.780 --> 01:06:36.920
OK, cool. So this is actually a romance, not

01:06:36.920 --> 01:06:40.360
like a lip service romance. Yeah, because I wasn't

01:06:40.360 --> 01:06:43.139
sure. It's so hard to tell when we find books.

01:06:44.119 --> 01:06:46.679
OK, 90 % of the books we find, we don't know

01:06:46.679 --> 01:06:48.599
other people that have read them, probably because

01:06:48.599 --> 01:06:50.820
I don't talk to a lot of people about books besides

01:06:50.820 --> 01:06:56.099
Katie. So it's hard to trust Goodreads or the

01:06:56.099 --> 01:07:00.030
internet of, is this spicy? Because some people

01:07:00.030 --> 01:07:01.989
will rate things at like five chili peppers and

01:07:01.989 --> 01:07:06.090
there's like one kiss. I'm like, guys. Yeah,

01:07:06.269 --> 01:07:08.210
or like one kiss and a finger. And I'm just like,

01:07:08.329 --> 01:07:10.409
OK. And then other things I've seen where it's

01:07:10.409 --> 01:07:12.010
like two chili peppers and it's like fucking

01:07:12.010 --> 01:07:14.630
priest. I'm like, what are you reading? That's

01:07:14.630 --> 01:07:17.250
a five chili pepper. I want to see your To Be

01:07:17.250 --> 01:07:19.869
Read list, ma 'am. Yeah. So it's just really

01:07:19.869 --> 01:07:23.750
hard to tell. But it was great. I was so happy

01:07:23.750 --> 01:07:27.969
with this. Yeah, same. Bringing us to writing

01:07:27.969 --> 01:07:30.429
style, we rated that a four. And honestly, the

01:07:30.429 --> 01:07:32.510
only reason that we rated it a four is that there's

01:07:32.510 --> 01:07:36.050
a couple of typos. We didn't call out. Literally

01:07:36.050 --> 01:07:39.769
two. We didn't call out the typo, but I do want

01:07:39.769 --> 01:07:42.090
to because it's a very funny one. As far as typos

01:07:42.090 --> 01:07:45.449
go, it almost didn't bother me. So it's when

01:07:45.449 --> 01:07:48.949
Cade and Ophelia are going to have their fight.

01:07:49.590 --> 01:07:51.090
I'm looking through our text because you texted

01:07:51.090 --> 01:07:55.269
it to me. They're about to have their fight and

01:07:55.269 --> 01:07:59.210
it's supposed to say like Cade is interlocking

01:07:59.210 --> 01:08:05.989
his fingers and it says interlicking And I had

01:08:05.989 --> 01:08:09.010
to do a double take I was like wait what Yeah,

01:08:09.190 --> 01:08:12.570
I mean look as far as typos go pretty funny.

01:08:12.570 --> 01:08:15.050
I don't even remember the other one cuz it was

01:08:15.050 --> 01:08:18.800
like very pedestrian, but the interlicking his

01:08:18.800 --> 01:08:21.140
fingers is really fucking funny. It's really

01:08:21.140 --> 01:08:23.199
funny to me. My only other thing with writing

01:08:23.199 --> 01:08:26.420
style is it kind of goes into storytelling as

01:08:26.420 --> 01:08:27.779
we're wanting to do is like, I still want to

01:08:27.779 --> 01:08:29.260
know what's up with Lucy. And maybe we'll find

01:08:29.260 --> 01:08:32.159
out in the future. But like, what is she? Yeah,

01:08:32.260 --> 01:08:36.319
I agree. Just to wrap up writing style, I really

01:08:36.319 --> 01:08:39.939
appreciated how much the author fit into such

01:08:39.939 --> 01:08:42.279
a short amount of time like the way that she

01:08:42.279 --> 01:08:44.859
was able to like craft the story and deliver

01:08:44.859 --> 01:08:48.539
the information was very well done. Like I would

01:08:48.539 --> 01:08:50.520
be surprised if this was her first book because

01:08:50.520 --> 01:08:54.779
it was just like very professional and like just

01:08:54.779 --> 01:08:59.100
we see a lot of books that meander or like yeah

01:08:59.100 --> 01:09:01.199
they give us superfluous information or like

01:09:01.199 --> 01:09:04.199
you know that it's just not well edited and this

01:09:04.199 --> 01:09:07.119
this story was. So writing style four. So bringing

01:09:07.119 --> 01:09:09.359
us into quality of storytelling what do we rate

01:09:09.359 --> 01:09:13.090
that as? Also a five, not also this one is a

01:09:13.090 --> 01:09:16.729
five. To kind of talk about the meandering, this

01:09:16.729 --> 01:09:19.390
book was really well paced when we first started

01:09:19.390 --> 01:09:21.029
it. And I realized that it was a competition

01:09:21.029 --> 01:09:23.130
and there were like nine levels and nine days.

01:09:23.430 --> 01:09:26.189
I was a little worried because that seemed like.

01:09:26.909 --> 01:09:29.590
It was it was setting us up to seeing every single

01:09:29.590 --> 01:09:31.930
moment of every single day. And we kind of do,

01:09:31.970 --> 01:09:34.250
but it's all important, like it all matters.

01:09:34.409 --> 01:09:37.369
And we're not seeing like bullshit like right.

01:09:38.139 --> 01:09:40.840
Everything we're told makes sense. The competition

01:09:40.840 --> 01:09:43.000
itself was really good. There were a couple comp

01:09:43.000 --> 01:09:45.880
like actual competitions that just didn't do

01:09:45.880 --> 01:09:48.140
it for me. But I've never written a book with

01:09:48.140 --> 01:09:50.520
nine mystical competitions. So like they can't

01:09:50.520 --> 01:09:55.020
all be great. Yeah. And they were amazing. We

01:09:55.020 --> 01:09:57.399
never got info dumps. We said this in our coverage,

01:09:57.399 --> 01:10:02.899
but this author took a really complex story and

01:10:02.899 --> 01:10:06.869
a multiple complex reveals. And they were delivered

01:10:06.869 --> 01:10:09.970
so clearly, like I'm not left with any questions

01:10:09.970 --> 01:10:12.510
as to like that didn't make sense or plot holes.

01:10:12.970 --> 01:10:15.489
Every question we had got answers, even questions

01:10:15.489 --> 01:10:17.170
that I didn't think we were going to get answered,

01:10:17.210 --> 01:10:19.710
like why her mom died. We got an answer to and

01:10:19.710 --> 01:10:22.310
it was satisfactory and it made sense. Yeah,

01:10:22.310 --> 01:10:25.210
I really appreciated how the book was very intentional

01:10:25.210 --> 01:10:27.789
with its story building and like. world crafting

01:10:27.789 --> 01:10:30.970
and and and eventing right like it didn't just

01:10:30.970 --> 01:10:32.989
throw red herrings in there which it fully could

01:10:32.989 --> 01:10:34.670
have because it's kind of horror like mystery

01:10:34.670 --> 01:10:36.569
adjacent yeah it could have done that but it

01:10:36.569 --> 01:10:38.510
chose not to and i appreciated that i appreciate

01:10:38.510 --> 01:10:41.250
that too and it was just it was very clean very

01:10:41.250 --> 01:10:46.050
clean um so if it's not clear we highly recommend

01:10:46.050 --> 01:10:49.449
this book yes very very much yeah had a great

01:10:49.449 --> 01:10:53.390
time reading it i know that it's like 400 or

01:10:53.390 --> 01:10:56.369
500 pages TBD, but it's doesn't feel like it.

01:10:56.369 --> 01:10:58.409
It's a quick read. It's very entertaining. I

01:10:58.409 --> 01:11:01.430
think you'll like it And we talked about this

01:11:01.430 --> 01:11:03.289
in the debrief, but I think it's worth saying

01:11:03.289 --> 01:11:06.369
here. Like it wasn't too scary I know it's clocked

01:11:06.369 --> 01:11:09.050
as horror and there there definitely was some

01:11:09.050 --> 01:11:11.050
like scary things, but I almost wanted it to

01:11:11.050 --> 01:11:15.029
be scarier I know I could have had a little bit

01:11:15.229 --> 01:11:19.350
I could have had more of the horror too. It's

01:11:19.350 --> 01:11:21.810
not any scarier than, honestly, any of the other

01:11:21.810 --> 01:11:23.970
fae books I read. Those are pretty violent and

01:11:23.970 --> 01:11:28.289
graphic. Most of those have war in it, so the

01:11:28.289 --> 01:11:31.109
only thing that was scary in this is that there's

01:11:31.109 --> 01:11:33.350
more blood and hauntings, but it could have been

01:11:33.350 --> 01:11:38.590
scarier for me. I'm excited to see more of similar,

01:11:38.609 --> 01:11:40.529
I want to say more of the same, honestly, in

01:11:40.529 --> 01:11:46.140
the next one. Yeah, same. We did it, guys. Those

01:11:46.140 --> 01:11:48.460
are our thoughts on Phantasma by Kaylee Smith.

01:11:48.640 --> 01:11:50.579
Thank you, as always, for joining us on this

01:11:50.579 --> 01:11:52.779
journey. Let us know what you thought on the

01:11:52.779 --> 01:11:55.100
socials. You can find us on TikTok, YouTube,

01:11:55.260 --> 01:11:57.859
and Goodreads at Spice Readers Pod. And if you

01:11:57.859 --> 01:12:00.140
like our podcast and want more, consider joining

01:12:00.140 --> 01:12:02.319
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01:12:02.319 --> 01:12:04.460
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01:12:04.659 --> 01:12:06.460
really like us, drop us a review wherever you

01:12:06.460 --> 01:12:09.380
listen. Until next time, we'll see you. Bye.