LPN Deep Dives: HOFAS / Episode 4: Double Breasta Nesta

Summary

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LPN Deep Dives: Crescent City

HOFAS / Episode 4: Double Breasta Nesta
Date: June 16, 2026
Hosts: Natalie Jean & Jackie Zabrowski
Special Guest: Jess

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Episode Overview

This episode of LPN Deep Dives: Crescent City continues the hosts’ irreverent and passionate “deep dive” into Sarah J. Maas’s House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City #3). Jackie, Natalie, and Jess—donning cosplay and delighting in candid, comedic banter—focus on Bryce’s perilous tunnel journey, her fraught encounter with Nesta, and the episode’s namesake: the “Double Breasta Nesta” moment. The second half dives into Lydia/the Hind’s complex maneuvers with the captured Queen of the Fire Sprites and a Grand Imperial Hag, blending in ACOTAR lore, monster horror, and thorny moral quandaries. This episode is packed with playful analysis, ACOTAR-Crescent City crossover connections, and memorable quotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening Banter & Cosplay (01:18–05:45)

• The hosts open with signature humor, riffing on their costumes and character props. Natalie and Jackie have “accidentally” coordinated dragon-scale tops, while Jess is in full chaotic spirit.
  • “Get the eggs out of here!” – Jess, (01:30)
  • Ongoing “piss and poop” running joke (“Dookie Nesta” v “Piss Nesta”), full of irreverence and affection for their ACOTAR avatars.
• Jackie laments re-reading the books:
  • “I don't know how you read these books over and over again. It's just so upsetting. It's so upsetting... But you do it for us so that you hold all of the answers.” - Jess (04:25)
• The hosts express nostalgia for ACOTAR and anticipation for more SJM world content.
  • “...looking down the barrel of having more SJM and more ACOTAR World. Oh, it's coming to us.” – Jess (05:16)
  • “I miss all of them. I miss all their outfits.” – Jackie (05:48)

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Book Talk: Cross-Series Thirst, Kinks, & Fourth Wing (05:51–09:19)

• Tangent on the sexual campaigns and shadow “daddies” of ACOTAR vs. Fourth Wing’s Zayden; playful comparisons of monster kinks and tropes.
  • “He is another shadow daddy, and he's a dragon shadow daddy.” – Jess (06:11)
  • “Can we do less sibling stuff in this world?” – Jackie (08:13)
• Jess recaps a wild “Kiss of the Basilisk” series:
  • “It's hard out here for a basilisk.” – Jess (07:38)

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Bryce in the Sobex Tunnel & Nesta's Entrance (09:40–15:13)

[Key Segment: The Tension-filled Underground Escape]

• Jackie details the plot (09:41–11:03): revisiting chapter six of House of Flame and Shadow as Bryce escapes the Sobex snake pit, closing the iron gate just in time.
  • “The metal groaned and then hissing like a swarm of angry wasps filled the tunnel.” – Natalie (11:03)
• Reflection on liminal horror, referencing House of Leaves (12:28).
• Bryce suffers exhaustion, falls asleep, and is menaced by a “shadow”—revealed to be Nesta, who tosses her a canteen.
  • “Do yourself a favor and drink before you pass out again.” – Jackie/Nesta (14:32)
• The title joke: “We're like a double breast Vesta.” – Jess (14:54)
  • “Double breasta. It’s like a double...like a vest.” – Jackie (15:00)

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Bryce & Nesta: Escape, Strategy, and Tension (16:45–23:34)

[Key Segment: Stark Contrasts & Surprising Alliances]

• Bryce and Nesta test each other’s powers—literally. Bryce blinds Nesta with chest light, runs, and triggers an accidental cave-in, trapping both on the wrong side.
  • “She has this moment. I mean, it doesn’t seem like a great plan because she’s just in a long tunnel.” – Jackie (19:59)
• Nesta’s practical (and deadpan): “Then you should have stayed in the Hewn City.” – Nesta (22:41)
• “Knowledge Alert”: The prison is called the Hewn City, a term from ACOTAR.
• Nesta’s assertive leadership shines: “I don't know where we are either. Imma follow you since you started doing this in the first place.” – Nesta (23:19)

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Lydia/The Hind’s Mind Games: Queen of Fire Sprites & the Grand Imperial Hag (23:34–43:01)

[Key Segment: Interrogations, Betrayals, & Hidden Motives]

• The scene shifts to Lydia (the Hind), who is “escorting” Queen Arethus (fire sprite) for an apparent interrogation.
  • “She wants to have Erethas ‘warm up’ before she attempts to confront Hunt. And she should have said, ‘I'm already on fire.’” – Jackie & Jess, joking (25:16)
• Lydia brings Arethus into a room with a grim Imperial Hag (Hilde/Hilda), a former ally of Lydia’s mother who defected to the House of Flame and Shadow.
  • “The Hinden asks, oh, you flew with my mother. Why would you defect...?” – Jackie (30:53)
• Moral lines are drawn as Hind demands Arethus torture Hilde. Arethus refuses honorably—“There is no honor in attacking an enemy prone and defenseless.” – Arethus (39:06)
  • “Go off!” – Natalie (39:06)
• The big reveal: Lydia herself planted the evidence that got Hilde arrested, testing Arethus’ resolve.
  • “Lydia framed her.” – Jackie (40:27)
• Host reflection: “Sorry, Hind, you're talking to a queen right now...she still has boundaries.” – Jess (42:11)

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Tension & Monster Horror: The Stone Bridge (44:07–58:32)

[Key Segment: Action, ACOTAR Lore, & Worm Horror]

• Bryce and Nesta arrive at a terrifying underground chasm spanned by a narrow bridge (44:19) —“What are we, Indiana Jones over here?” – Jackie (44:45)
• They are ambushed by a horde of bat-lizard hybrids and an enormous, carnivorous worm—a clear nod to ACOTAR’s “midtengard worm.”
  • “An enormous worm, gleaming with water and mud. A mouthful of rows of teeth opened wide and snapped.” – Natalie (52:09)
  • “He's getting a little snack." – Jackie (52:17)
• Bryce, overwhelmed, freezes—Nesta drags her to safety, but is unimpressed.
  • “Nesta has taken hold of the paralyzed Bryce and dragged her into the mouth of the cave.” – Jackie (54:19)
  • “This only irritates Bryce and she's like, could you tell me what that was? Instead of giving me tips on how to be a battle warrior.” – Jackie (55:19)
• ACOTAR Lore Sound: They excitedly note the use of “midtengard worm” and parallels to Feyre’s story.
  • “We need a sound every time there's an ACOTAR reference!” – Jackie (56:02)

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Identity Revelations & Starborn Origins (58:32–61:27)

• Conversation about the meaning of “Starborn" and Bryce’s ancestry, revealing Thea as High Queen of two worlds.
  • “Queen in two worlds.” – Jackie (59:31)
  • “If she is the heir of the starborn power of a queen of two planets, they might want to just kill her.” – Jackie (59:47)
• The dynamic between Bryce and Nesta—respect, rivalry, and “bitch off” energy—continues.
  • “It's a bitch off. There's so many bitch offs that we're going to be seeing.” – Jess (60:31)
• Nesta tells Bryce: “You've gotten us into enough of a mess as it is...keep close.” – Nesta (60:48)
• Closing joke: “They're gonna be squirting milk and having sensitive nipples before you can say, get me back to Midgard.” – Jess (61:15)

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Notable Quotes

• “Get the eggs out of here!” – Jess (01:30)
• “It’s hard out here for a basilisk.” – Jess (07:38)
• “Do yourself a favor and drink before you pass out again.” – Jackie/Nesta (14:32)
• “I feel like it's already unlocked...they live in a pit. So it’s like being at the bottom of a toilet.” – Jackie (17:17)
• “Sorry, Hind, you're talking to a queen right now...” – Jess (42:11)
• “Queen in two worlds.” – Jackie (59:31)
• “It’s a bitch off.” – Jess (60:31)
• “Keep close.” – Nesta (60:48)
• “They're gonna be squirting milk and having sensitive nipples before you can say, get me back to Midgard.” – Jess (61:15)

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Major Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 01:18 – Opening, costuming, “eggs,” and Dookie Nesta banter
• 05:51 – ACOTAR, “Fourth Wing,” monster tropes
• 09:41 – Recap, Bryce and Sobex tunnel escape
• 13:52 – Bryce’s exhaustion, Nesta’s appearance
• 16:45 – Bryce and Nesta face off; blind/chest-light scene
• 23:34 – Lydia, Queen Arethus, Imperial Hag interrogation
• 39:06 – Arethus’ honorable refusal to torture
• 44:19 – Entering the chasm, bridge, and creature ambush
• 52:09 – Midden Guard worm attack
• 58:32 – Starborn lore, Thea’s history
• 60:48 – Nesta’s leadership, “bitch off” dynamic

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Episode Tone & Flow

The episode is a playful, tangential, and deeply engaged analysis from three hosts who balance NSFW humor (“dookie Nesta”), affectionately savage takes on plot/characters, and genuine literary critique. Lore deep-dives and crossover references (especially with ACOTAR and pop culture) abound, offering both laughs and thoughtful commentary for SJM super-fans.

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Preview for Next Episode

• Read through Chapter 10 for the next discussion.
• Stay tuned for more cave adventures—and perhaps a milking farm?
  • “Is this another milking farm? Tune in to find out.” – Jackie (61:17)

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Useful For:
Listeners new to the episode will come away with a clear sense of the plot movements, character dynamics, running in-jokes, and how SJM’s multiverse is fueling both the literary drama and the hosts’ boisterous back-and-forth.

Transcript

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[Natalie Jean]

Welcome to Crescent City with your hosts, Natalie Jean and Jackie Zabrowski.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Get it out.

[Jess]

Get it out of me. No. It wants to live in inside of you. Natalie, all the eggs.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Get the eggs out of here. Get them out.

[Jess]

And also I would say, get out of here. Nesta number two.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Whoa. I'm number two?

[Jess]

You're Dookie Nesta today. Sorry, not sorry. I'm the piss and you're the poop. Well, Dookie Nesta in a hole.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Dookie nest in a hole.

[Jess]

I mean, wouldn't you rather in the hole and not out of the hole?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I don't know. I don't actually know how. How I would choose, but we both chose one prop. You brought the sword, which I forgot, and you brought the. Clearly the. Somebody forgot to really read thoroughly the text. But because she has a cloak. How I brought.

[Natalie Jean]

Are you supposed to protect anyone if

[Jess]

you don't have your sword? Especially because they talk about how the sword sings to Bryce's.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I have some. Some kind of like silver flames, if you recall.

[Jess]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And because yes, it's another week that you would think, maybe you guys should discuss it beforehand. No, but genuinely, Natalie and I like

[Jackie Zabrowski]

to see who we're both going to

[Jess]

be dressed as and like to guess who the other one is dressed as after they've gotten dressed up. It is like a little thing that we do every week, and I think that it's fun. And again, I saw her put on that dragon scale shirt and I was like, bitch, you. Dragon scale. ET2 dragon scale.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Literally the same. Dragon scale top.

[Ad Voice 2]

Same.

[Jess]

And it is. It is the same dragon scale top. But here's the thing. I like that Natalie does have the braids, which she should have as a soldier. She should have it braided and out of the way.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's canon.

[Jess]

But I feel like this is also like when in hole.

[Natalie Jean]

Let the hair down in the dookie hole.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You would think you'd want to put your hair up.

[Jess]

Well, if I'm sitting next to dookie Nesta, I don't really have much of a choice.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You're just pissed, Nesta. It's not that much better.

[Jess]

Well, that's the problem though is Nesta has a bit of a dooky attitude.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She does. But you're also Nesta.

[Jess]

Well, I guess I'm better than the rest.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, get out of here.

[Jess]

I won't. Not with mine sword. Because how are you supposed to protect anyone? Natalie.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

My silver planes. My silver flames, ladies and gentlemen.

[Jess]

Yeah, I think it's wonderful because, you know, we have to go back in to dress in these characters because Natalie, I missed them. I do miss them. This is, you know, I was excited

[Jackie Zabrowski]

to dress up like Nesta.

[Ad Voice 2]

Whoa.

[Jess]

But don't worry, our feet are put away, so you cannot sell the pictures. But Natalie, I don't know how you read these books over and over again. It's just so upsetting. It's so upsetting. And I know that you have to do it for us. You do it for us so that you hold all of the answers. Because I'm the one that's like, wait, what did happen? And then you know the answers. You know, you know that. You know, you know that she's wearing the cloak. You know these things. You're. You are our shepherd.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, and I appreciate you, Jess. She. She also.

[Jess]

And Jess, of course, the amazing Jess, that has done so much work. But I just. I need you to know that my spirit just can't take it. And I'm so excited, thinking, looking down the barrel of having more SJM and more ACOTAR World. Oh, it's coming to us.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Coming down the pipe.

[Jess]

It coming down the pipe.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I imagine we're going to be wrapping this book up around then.

[Jess]

I believe that we are. And I think that we're going to be able to seamlessly transition. That's not what's going to happen. But I can't wait to get back into this world. And not that I don't love our Crescent City world. I. It is. It is an important part of the triumvirate of the series. But I miss.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I miss them.

[Jess]

I miss them.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I miss a little. I miss all of them. I miss all their outfits.

[Jess]

And it is crazy because some of their sex campaigns. I read other books and I think about them and, you know, we were just talking about fourth wing, and I see a shadow Daddy Zaden, and I go, I love it, and I love your shadows, but where's my ass?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I'm finally getting to fourth wing, and I see what all the hubbub is about with Zayden.

[Jess]

I mean, that's Aiden. I tell you. I do understand it. He is another shadow daddy, and he's a dragon shadow daddy.

[Ad Voice 3]

It's all.

[Jess]

It's all that, and I love it. But then I lose myself thinking about the bat boys.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I know he would fit right in.

[Jess]

He would, because. Oh, he's snuck.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, isn't he? Yes.

[Jess]

And it's so crazy because her name is Violet, but he always calls her violence. And isn't that hot? Natalie?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I guess I don't know if they have sex yet because I'm only halfway through the first book.

[Jess]

Well, I think that you do. I think you've heard about Zade in a time or two.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, no, it's so. It's been so spoiled on the Internet. I don't think anybody would not know if they're following any sort of book talk.

[Jess]

That's why I was so excited about reading and finishing the second Kiss of the Basilisk in the series of Kiss of the Basilisk. And in the second one, I genuinely had no idea what. Who she was going to end up with. And maybe brothers got involved.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, why?

[Jess]

And maybe Jeff said the same thing

[Jackie Zabrowski]

when I was trying to explain to

[Jess]

him, like, the brothers aren't having sex with each other. It's just that sometimes if a brother is in the brain of the lover as well as, like, a brother, and so it's like, you know that the brother's watching and that he is technically there, but he's not having sex with his brother.

[Natalie Jean]

It's just.

[Jess]

It's hard out here for a basilisk.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I can get behind the snake thing. I can't get behind the sibling thing, the parent thing in there. I can't.

[Jess]

But I mean, it's not like sons are having sex with dads.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No, they're just both dipping. We will call it double dipping.

[Jess]

And now it's triple dipping. And I'm surprised that the second book wasn't called triple dipping, but it was awesome. And I Ripped.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You are not selling this.

[Jess]

Not to you, but I am selling it to some. Let me know. Let me know what you think.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Can we do less sibling stuff in this world?

[Jess]

I.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You know, are we getting off of pornhub for a reason?

[Jess]

I wasn't asking for it, Natalie. It just happened. And Apollo is not like the other basilisks. They never are Apollo, but I still chose Leo in the. My head.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, we're not there. We're in a different way.

[Jess]

Just read the basilisk books and you're going to be so scared.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I'm. I genuinely don't want to because of the familial part of it.

[Jess]

I'm just tired because of how much sex they have. Like, it exhausts me just reading the book that I'm like, man, can you imagine being like, oh, we got to have sex again.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I have things to do again. Really not. Not a strong pitch on this series of books.

[Jess]

It's, you know. But, Natalie, not every. You know, you can't just be dropped into, like, the world of the basilisks and be like, I wish I were a basilisk, not. It can't all be the fae, you

[Jackie Zabrowski]

know, I'm just saying I don't want the family part. Is it so much to ask in a story?

[Jess]

Sounds like a lot of dookie Nesta coming out over here. Good.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. If that makes me dookie, if that makes me number two that I don't want to see Father's Son pornography, then call me the poop master.

[Jess]

Well, poop master, here she is. We're not with basilisks.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Where was so bad.

[Jess]

Okay, we're with. So we were with Sobex. Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We are returning to chapter six of House of Flame and Shadow, where we are with Bryce and she's in a hole. That's right. She has walked through the valley of the Cavern of Snakes. And she has walked through the entrance to the side of the tunnel that her light brighted for. So she had been on that little rocky, like, you know, like, jutting out of the. This. The sobic pit, and they all laid down for her and her queendom. And she steps through them and they let her pass. And so now we have gotten through.

[Jess]

She's gotten through.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She's found this pathway. Her starlight is lighting her towards it. And she realizes as she goes through this doorway that it's actually. It has a door as a gate on it. Like, this is a thing that closes. So it's like more like a. It's not a door as much as a vertical like iron gate.

[Jess]

Is it a jar?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It was a jar, that's for sure.

[Jess]

You gotta close it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And she takes the opportunity to close herself off from the Sobex.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Because if you got the gate, put the gate there. Even if they had laid down for her.

[Natalie Jean]

The metal groaned and then hissing like a swarm of angry wasps filled the tunnel.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So whatever spell they were under, they kind of reanimate as soon as the gate closes. And now they're pissed that their snack has escaped them.

[Jess]

God. I mean, I would be if I was down for so long. Oh, and I'd be looking up. I'd be looking go, bobo. Bobo. I mean, you know, she looking good snatched. The sobec may be in a hole, but they're not dead. And they like what they see.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

They do.

[Jess]

Maybe this is just speaking as people that were Sobeck last week.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We were sobex. We're not anymore. We're moving on.

[Jess]

And I'll cut off their heads.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, you might have to. They throw themselves at the grate. And Bryce grits her teeth waiting for the collapse. But the gate holds, shaky and kind of startled from their renewed attacks. They're all going,

[Jess]

Natalie. It's not us anymore. We have to get out of the brains.

[Ad Voice 4]

I'm trying.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's so hard. She slowly turns away from the pit and faces the tunnel ahead of her. Her light re brightens immediately as she's facing the direction it seems to want her to go. Her power seems to say, go this way. Hours later, she is still walking down that damn tunnel. I just read House of Leaves for the first time.

[Ad Voice 3]

Whoa.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And now liminal space is kind of

[Jess]

stressing me out bigger on the inside than on the outside.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, it's that man. That's a. That's a kind of existential anxiety that not everybody holds. But if you do, book is very upsetting.

[Jess]

But yo, didn't that man there. That book destroyed. I mean that really ruined me in multiple ways when I read it. I probably. I. I would love to read it again though, because I do think I read it too young. That I think that I could be even more scared of it now.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Probably as an adult. It's much more scary. So she is hopefully not in one of those tunnels.

[Jess]

Only one way to find out.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And she starts to wonder if this was a terrible idea. Yes, it was a bad idea. But she's been walking non stop, which would equate to miles and miles of coverage without any sort of supply, including water. If this turns out to be a dead end, then what? She'll have to try to make her way back. And then what's she gonna do? For the first time in hours, Bryce just stops and sits against one of the walls. She's been walking in a straight line this whole time with no indication that anything at all is down here. She's so parched. But she compels herself to stand back up. She closes her eyes, they fly back open. Sometime later. What the.

[Jess]

Oh, I fell asleep. Slimy tunnel nap.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Slimy tunnel nap.

[Natalie Jean]

She must be tired.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, when you're tired, you nap where you nap. Disoriented, she feels like she could have been out for hours. She's still in the same spot as before. But before she can process it, a shadow is upon her.

[Natalie Jean]

Nesta stood over her, a sword strapped out of back.

[Jess]

The female's blue gray eyes seemed to

[Natalie Jean]

gleam with power in the starlight. Bryce didn't dare move. Nesta tossed her a leather wrapped canteen.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Do yourself a favor and drink before you pass out again.

[Jess]

Oh, Nesta's a.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yes, she is.

[Jess]

But she's also a helpful.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She is a helpful. Cut to Just a few minutes later and Bryce has accepted the water. It is now watching Nesta, who has sat herself across from Bryce on the opposite wall.

[Jess]

Oh my God. We're like a double breast Vesta.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

How?

[Jess]

Because we're two Nestas.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Breast of Vesta. Double breasta. It's like a double. Like a vest.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah,

[Jess]

because there's two sides of it.

[Natalie Jean]

Of two panels.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, just. Yep.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yep. And

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[Jess]

You got to get in there.

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

She asked Nesta how they knew she left the room. And Nest is like, girl, really, you think we couldn't observe you from wherever we are? I wonder where she was going to

[Jess]

the bathroom in there on the wall? I guess so. Yeah. Or oh, on this. Oh God, don't. You don't even know that. The Sobex love that. Okay. No, they are loving it. And they honestly, I feel like this. Maybe that would be whether it's a kink unlocked or one they already knew. I hope the best for them.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I feel like it's already unlocked. I mean, I think it's. Yeah, I think they knew that already because they live in a pit. So it's like kind of like being at the bottom of a toilet. They probably used to.

[Jess]

Especially like if you're in that room because I. I don't think it's like the kind of cell where there's like

[Natalie Jean]

at least a little toilet in the corner.

[Jess]

So I imagine a lot of people are already pissing down that hole.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Hopefully that's what they drink and eat and they like it.

[Jess]

Somebody's got to.

[Natalie Jean]

It's the circle of life.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, exactly that. So they, they're like, we, of course we saw you left. Nesta tells her she's been sent down here to escort her back to the room. Bryce is not being combative. They're both sort of observing each other with curiosity. But instead of saying okay, she instead asks her how she got past the beasts. She can feel this power radiating from Nesta that feels somewhat familiar to her. Same with the sword she carries. Not the star sword, but something akin maybe. Nesta smirks and reminds her that she knows a few guys with wings. Yeah, she does.

[Jess]

Swing, swing, swing.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

More like she might know one of them really well.

[Jess]

Oh yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Bryce's heart.

[Jess]

I love him.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I know.

[Jess]

It's the only reason why I want to dress up as Nesta. So that I could just dream of Cassian.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yep. Spoiler.

[Jess]

I do feel like this is game recognizing game though. Oh, absolutely.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You know, they're they almost feel like they could be sisters a little bit. So Nesta mentioning that she knows some fellows with wings, you know, strikes Bryce's heart. Thinking about her own bro with wings. Nesta is being calm but assertive that she should come back with her or she might end up getting flown out of here by force. Bryce is like, what do you mean? There's just. You don't have wings. She tries to peer into the darkness leading back to the holding cell. But doesn't see anything. Though she has already met two males cloaked in shadows. So something to think about.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Before Bryce can second guess herself, she throws chest like, chest light. Chest light.

[Ad Voice 1]

James.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Chest light.

[Jess]

Game recognizes name.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She throws chest light at Nesta, who gasps in shock. Because basically she kind of. They're both being real calm. And then suddenly Bryce is like. And so Nesta is taken off guard. She gasps and shot, giving Bryce a moment to run the opposite direction. So the same direction she had been going in. And she's temporarily blinded. Nesta. So she has this like, moment. I mean, it doesn't seem like a great plan because she's just in a long tunnel.

[Ad Voice 2]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Where are you gonna go, girl?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So she gets a few. Basically a few feet. And she. Then she feels something hard knocking her to the ground. She looks around her sprawled form on her shoulders. And she sees that she's been wrapped in shadows. She blasts them off with her star power. Star power. And then she begins to run again. And she feels the shadows following her, gaining. She doesn't know what they're coming from, but it's like a pack of wild animals is following her. She waits until they are right at her back. And then explodes into light again.

[Ad Voice 3]

Whoa.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Sending the shadows careening into the walls and ceiling. It's as if a bomb has gone off. The shadows colliding with the rock has caused stone to begin to fly in every direction.

[Natalie Jean]

Bryce ran deeper into the tunnel, into the dark, her star flaring as she raced away from the crumbling rock. All around, the world shook and roared again, sending her sprawling amid a cloud of dust.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She realizes something like a cave in is happening. She tries to get herself up from the ground, gasping for air, trying to get away from the falling rock as well as the pursuing fay.

[Natalie Jean]

When metal bit into her throat. I see deathly cold.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Do not.

[Natalie Jean]

Nessa said quietly, panting.

[Ad Voice 4]

Move

[Jackie Zabrowski]

well, girl.

[Jess]

Yeah, you can't out the biggest in the tunnel.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

After a moment, Bryce gets up. So basically, Nesta has kind of gotten on top of her, is holding a knife to her Throat Bryce. And then Bryce gets up, body swaying. She's depleted her starlight for an unknown amount of time. But just doing those big explosions to get away has really, like, wrecked her magic. And she's weak also from the many days of trauma. She's barely been eating, even though they've been trying to give her food. So she gets up. Nesta seems resigned now, however, because what she's done unintentionally is she. And she tells Nesta this. I didn't mean to cause a cave in. She didn't know the shadows were going to explode and like, hit things like they were solid. But because of that, now both she and Nesta are stuck on this side of this cave in. So Nesta's like, well, it might. We might as well go get moving, because there's no going back that direction. She also says to Nest that she didn't mean to drag other people into this mess. Then you should have stayed in the Hewn city.

[Natalie Jean]

Bryce tucked away that kernel of knowledge. The place she'd been kept was called

[Jackie Zabrowski]

the Hewn City Knowledge Alert.

[Jess]

And we don't like the hewn City, but it seemed like she was like, in a. A better area of it, I guess.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I mean, compared to some other places that we're learning about, seems fine.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She tells Nesta about how her scar seems to be leading her. After a moment of consideration, Nesta sheathes her sword and tells her to go ahead and lead the way. Then Bryce is suspicious at Nesta's compliance. But Nesta basically says, I don't know where we are either. Imma follow you since you started doing this in the first place.

[Jess]

Yeah. But also, I think there's only one way you can really go. So I guess you're just gonna go down the tunnel.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

After you, madam. At Chapter seven, we're back with Lydia, who has obtained the queen Fire Sprites, Urethus. Now we're at Chapter seven. And we're back with Lydia, who has obtained the queen of the Fire Sprites, whose name is Eis for the purposes allegedly of extracting information from Hunt.

[Natalie Jean]

You bastards.

[Jess]

Keeping her in a bubble.

[Ad Voice 4]

You.

[Jess]

You let her be the queen that she needs to be.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No, they don't want her to. And that, you know, we've. She's told Rigelous that's why she needed her. But it seems unlikely that's her true intentions. She's carrying her inside her bubble prison cell. Through the hallways of the palace. The queen is quiet. But after some time has passed, Arethus points out they are not walking towards the dungeons because it's not what they're supposed to be doing. When the hind points out that the queen could hardly know the layout of this place, Erectus retorts that she actually has perfect recall and can remember ice space after only being in them once.

[Natalie Jean]

Which is cool.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's pretty sick. Wish that I could.

[Jess]

I would love to be a fire sprite. I think I'd be really good at it. Yeah, I think that I would be. I mean, I don't like the whole, like, that they got overthrown and that

[Natalie Jean]

I'd probably be kept as a slave,

[Jess]

but I feel like being a fire spy would be really badass.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Hopefully they're not going to have to be enslaved if they make all of this work out. Can't wear clothes anymore. You down?

[Jess]

Oh, yeah. I think I'd be down with that.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She thinks she might like it.

[Natalie Jean]

Yep.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So the hind confirms then, that they aren't going to the dungeons. That's true. She sell. But what she tells Arethus, because she is maintaining her hind facade, obviously, during this time, is that she wants to have Erethas quote, warm up before she attempts to confront Hunt. And she should have said, I'm already on fire. Yeah.

[Jess]

How much warmer you want me to get?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Though Lydia maintains the cool composure of the Hind on the outside, she is a ball of nerves on the inside.

[Natalie Jean]

Between one breath and the next, Lydia buried that part of her that begged to distant gods. The part that doubted. She became still and flat expression as undisturbed as the surface of a forgotten forest pool.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She arrives at the door of her destination and swings it open to reveal what she calls an imperial hag, which is what I want my dancer name to be.

[Ad Voice 4]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

The hag is chained to a chair in the middle of the room.

[Jess]

Maybe. Is that. Do you want. Do you still want to be chained to the middle of the room? If that's your dancer name, know. Okay. Or you could do a whole.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I could dance on the chains.

[Ad Voice 3]

Yes.

[Jess]

I have changed out of the chains, like, as you're dancing. That would be pretty sick. Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So she is chained, not doing a dance, unfortunately, to the middle of like, basically a chair in the middle of the room with a table and another chair on the opposite side of the table. Classic interrogation room. The hind sits across from this hag and greets, quote, Hilde. Hilde.

[Jess]

Hild.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Hild.

[Jess]

Hildy. I guess you say Hildy.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I feel like that is Hild. Isn't that like a cartoon character or something? I mean, obviously it's also a classic name of Eastern European design. Something. Yeah, Hilda. I'm going to say Hilda. And she sits across from her and greets her. And she places the orb holding Queen urethus. Lot of names to say here.

[Jess]

You're killing it, Natalie. It's all. It's all jumbled in that. In that little mouth of yours.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

My little mouth?

[Jess]

You got a little mouth.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You got a big mouth open, wife.

[Jess]

No, when it comes to, like, the dentist, I feel like it's like you. You know, where it's like, oh, you got too many tees in there. Or, oh, you got all this space.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I think it's just the. I think it's just average. I've never been told one or the other. I don't ever have. I never had wisdom teeth.

[Jess]

Ah, see, I see. I know. I have a. I have a large mouth. You're married to someone with a small mouth, though. Do you know Henry's got a small mouth in there? Which, surprisingly, I think a lot of people would say the opposite.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

How do you know that?

[Jess]

Because he had. He had to have like a. So the. The braces put on. Because he had double rows, like, they were coming in as double rows because his mouth was so small that they had to, like.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, you know, I did have to have an extra expander as a kid.

[Jess]

So maybe you got a small mouth. Maybe you got a small mouth in there.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It was torturous beyond the pain because I already had a gap in my front teeth, and then the expander makes the gap, like, much wider. And it was a middle school, which is the perfect time for that.

[Jess]

Oh, it should be illegal to get braces in middle school.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Really?

[Jess]

Should they just wait till you're an adult? Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I don't even think kids get. Do kids still get braces? No, I think that they do just have the vis.

[Jess]

Yeah, I think so, which is good. But I do think that there are some things that you just have to have the braces for, probably.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Do kids still have to wear headgear Sometimes?

[Natalie Jean]

Let us know our kids.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Kids need that trauma, right?

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it's. Honestly, it makes them stronger. I just don't. I never understood, like, my sister had headgear. It's like, how did you sleep? And she was, like, very poorly, I bet. Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Thankfully, I didn't have that. I just had the thing. We need to crank things. Crank it.

[Ad Voice 3]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Get to get that crank on.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Speak about culture devices, man. So they're in this interrogation room. The hag is hagging like no other, with thin, wispy hair, brown teeth and yellow eyes.

[Jess]

Ooh, an old lady.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

The hind announces that Hilda was discovered with a comms crystal associated with Ophion. So what is she, a rebel? The hag immediately interjects, spitting that someone has framed her and that was not her comms crystal. The Hyde makes it clear that it's not her concern whether or not it was hers. The hag looks afraid and asks then why has she been dragged into this room? The hind smirks and tells her that she needs to warm up the queen.

[Jess]

No, she's the evil High now. We're not in Lydia's brain, we're in the.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

The hag begins to taunt the hind, calling her Lydia. We glean from this back and forth that not only is Hilda in Imperial Hag, she. She knew Lydia's mother because she's a witch.

[Natalie Jean]

Lydia had enough training and self control to keep her face blank. Tone utterly bored.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

My mother was a witch queen. Plenty of people knew her.

[Natalie Jean]

But Lydia's a little shook, you know, you shook. No one says Lydia when they know

[Jackie Zabrowski]

nobody be calling her Lydia. And she doesn't like the fact that her mom's being brought up. Hilda alleges that she flew with Lydia's mother in her battle unit.

[Jess]

Oh God, that's badass.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It is. The Hinden asks, oh, you flew with my mother. Why would you defect a house of flame and shadow then? So we're getting a little info. This hag is turned to the darker house. That's not where the witches are. And also recall, this is where Hypaxi has the option of because she's a necromancer, which, and that's not like vibing with a lot of people. Hilda snarls that she did it to spite Lydia's mother because she was weak, she didn't have the blood lust that suited old Hildy here. And well. The hind says, guess we're not always like our parents because I love blood.

[Natalie Jean]

She does.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

As irritated as this hag is right now, she loves torture so much that she mutters that she, the hind, would have been a better queen than her little dumb sister Hypaxia, because basically saying Hypaxia is too weak and. And soft and it's gonna like, ruin the witches. Yeah, even though you're gonna torture me, you're it. And you should probably be the queen. That's how dedicated she is.

[Jess]

Honestly, it must be nice to hear because I feel like the hind gets a lot of negative, negative, negative. So it's Nice to have a little bit of positive reinforcement.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. I mean, she probably gets it from the. The positive. From the hi. Because they love how much she doesn't care about hurting people.

[Jess]

I know, but they're also so bad.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

They're also her.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Yeah. I feel like they're not very good with the effusive praise.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Probably not. So, yeah, she's like, you know, let her have a little moment. But then as she's, you know, here, all this is coming out. Lydia is keeping aware that Arethus is taking all of this in. So this is like some kind of, you know, behind the scenes information that this little queen is. Is taking in. So she's trying to keep her from revealing too much. She returns to her introductions, introduces Queen Arethus to Hilde, and turns out that in her title, she is the Grand Hag of the Imperial Clubin. Which is like, kind of fun.

[Jess]

I. You know, I just feel like it's like it's not fair that horrible, awful people took the term grand wizard because

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I feel like I always take everything.

[Jess]

It just sucks so much because it's like grand hag, which, like, that's fun, I guess. But is it? You know, I feel like there's, you know, I. I feel like there's something else that we could have. I feel like hag is such a negative.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Taking the word back.

[Jess]

Maybe. You know what? This is them taking the word back. You're right. So maybe I should change my thinking on this.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. Change your mind patterns.

[Jess]

We're excited to be the Grand Hag of the Imperial Coven.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. And I think it's sort of the witch. The witch CIA for the ester, which I don't know if we should be cheering on the CIA right now, but. But a witch CIA, which CIA is kind of fun. So Eis goes deep red when she realizes who exactly is before her. Because this is the witch that put her binding collar on her.

[Natalie Jean]

Hilde again smiled wide enough to reveal her blackened gums. A lesser person would have cowered at

[Jackie Zabrowski]

that smile, but not Queen Arethus.

[Jess]

No.

[Natalie Jean]

Bitch.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And here Lydia recalls that Arethus gained this crown the day of the overthrow attempt all those years back. So in that battle, the former queen of the sprites was killed. So this. This sprite was crowned and imprisoned in one day where she's been trapped in this globe ever since. And that sucks.

[Jess]

But yeah, dude, she doesn't even get to use her role powers inside of the bubble.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She barely even knows. Like I'm sure she had some years before she was in prison to, like, know what her power level was. But since she's been a queen, like, she hasn't been able to, like, test them out at all.

[Jess]

So do you think they ever play, like, you know, like John Travolta's like, Bubble Boy? Bubble Boy?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You mean with the Mistress of the Mystics?

[Jess]

Yeah. Like, I feel like that they should play that for her when she's in the bubble.

[Ad Voice 3]

Oh.

[Jess]

Just so that I feel like that's extra torture.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Or also the other one with Jake gyllenhaal from the 90s.

[Jess]

She has to watch both back to back forever. That is a certain kind of torture. It really is. Just to see if she can hold on.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I unfortunately had a very big crush on Jake Gyllenhaal at that time.

[Jess]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that wasn't our fault, though. Donnie Darko did that. Oh, okay.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

My God. Not good. It's very much a toxic person to be fine. Attractive foot.

[Jess]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But to be fair, I also moved on to Brokeback Mountain after that. So Jake Yeel and Hula has been in the slutty Zeitgeist for me for quite some time.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

When he got more into the action hero stuff, I was kind of out, you know, Was not like. Yeah, but we're not talking about the Gyllenhaal.

[Ad Voice 3]

No.

[Jess]

And Arethus doesn't get to watch any of those movies.

[Ad Voice 3]

No.

[Mr. Ballin]

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

So. But she was stuck in that globe for a very long time. Lydia, with her hind mask, says indifferently, yes, yes. Yeah, you're so gifted. We know you put Hunt Athelar's first halo on as well, because the. The Hilda is very proud of the fact that she has put this collar on the sprite. And Lydia's kind of like, yeah, yeah, we get it. You're so talented. And then she spits out. She's also the person who haloed Hunt Athalar the first time. So this bitch, this C word. Oh.

[Jess]

Even though it's really cool to be the grand hag of the Imperial coven,

[Natalie Jean]

she is a C word.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She is a C word. And.

[Jess]

And I'm not talking cag.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Imperial cag. So it's weird, though, because it seems unlikely then she would be communicating with Opion.

[Ad Voice 2]

Right?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

If she's doing all of these horrific deeds, she can't be a rebel.

[Natalie Jean]

I mean, say that to the Hind.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Double agent? Is that what we're gonna find out? So where are we going with all of this? Like, what's. What's. What's coming? The Hind touches the globe and it melts away, leaving Arethus outside of it for the first time in so long. Smirking, the Hind tells Arethus to do her worst to the hag. The queen just hovers and stares at the hag, and then she says, no. The Hind looks startled and says again, no.

[Natalie Jean]

Do it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But the queen again refuses. She tells the Hind that even if she hates this witch, that there is no honor in attacking an enemy who is prone and defenseless.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes, go off.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I guess she's not a torture fan. The Hind says, girl, what are you on? There is no honor in these streets. We are in the Asteris Palace. There's no honor.

[Jess]

Get to Burnin.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She refuses. Hilda laughs. The Hind and Aretha stare at one another, and then the Hind smiles. Fine. Go back and rot in your globe. She picks up the captive Re, puts her in the globe and heads out the door. The hag demands to know what is to happen to her. Then the Hind simply tells her to beg Rigel's for mercy, and then slams the cell shut behind her.

[Natalie Jean]

Mercy? Lydia had held none in her heart two days ago when she'd walked past Hildy in the upper corridors and slipped her her own commcrystal inside the hag's pocket. With Ruhn in the dungeons, no one was accessing the other end of the line anyway. The crystal was, for all intents and purposes, dead but in Hilda's possession when Mordoc had sniffed it out on Lydia's suspicion. The crystal once again became invaluable.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So she planted that.

[Jess]

She planted it, man. She planted that.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Lydia framed her. She thinks about how she went to the person she thought Erethus would hold the most contempt for. So she planted that specifically on Hilda because she wanted to trigger Erectus to

[Jess]

see how she reacted for Hilda. Oh, Hilda is like, I've been. I've been number one, a starry C word for so long. And then you're gonna do this because I. I do feel like, you know, this is bad. It's a bad thing to do, but also, we kind of fine with it.

[Ad Voice 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Jess]

She was a bad witch.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She's a bad. She's a bad.

[Jess]

But it is. It hurts, though, in some capacity as someone that has read all of the SJM books that I'm just like. But you don't even know. You already know what she's had to be through, and we're never gonna know.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We won't. That's why books are sometimes fun, because you don't have to. I guess people in the real world don't often consider everyone's story, but, yeah, I try to more as a human, but here, we're just like, no bad. Boo.

[Ad Voice 2]

Hate you.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Get rid of her.

[Jess]

Rip her face off.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But Lydia is constantly faced with these impossible decisions in her everyday life. To maintain this facade and also to try to get somewhere where she can actually make a difference, she has to make these decisions. And there a lot of times, no, there's no good choice to make. So we don't know much about why she's done it, but she has tried to trigger Arethus in this moment to see how she would react to someone she would hate the most.

[Jess]

Sorry, Hind, you're talking to a queen right now. And even though she wasn't able to be a queen outside the bubble, she

[Natalie Jean]

didn't get to be.

[Jess]

But inside of that bubble, she still has boundaries. Okay.

[Ad Voice 2]

And her duty.

[Jess]

She's not like you. She's not like you and the Grand Hag. No, no, no, no.

[Ad Voice 1]

Go ahead.

[Jess]

Put her back in the bubble.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She puts her. She returns. Basically, she walks her all the way back to the Mystics hall, both of them silent on the walk. As she places the queen back on the stand where her crystal cell lives. Arethus asks her what will happen with the prisoner she was supposed to help the hind with. With her hind mask firmly in place, she tells Arethus she's not going to waste her time pleading with a Fl. Fire sprite. Enjoy her honor inside of her prison.

[Jess]

But also, okay, hind. What were you offering her? It's not like you were like, if you do this, you'll get out of the bubble. No, you didn't give me nothing. So it's like, okay, it's either I do this and I go back in the bubble, or you just put me back in the bubble.

[Ad Voice 3]

So.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, the Asteri don't bargain. And I think the other option was that, like, you'd get tortured or you would get killed, you know? And she said, no, I'm not doing it.

[Jess]

Bubble me.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Bubble me back. Well, we still don't really know what that all was about yet, but we're not going to find out currently because we're. Then we're over with Bresta. That's right. That's their couple name. Double Breast of Esta Bryson, Bryce and Esther. They are traversing through the seemingly endless cave. Tunnel. Bryce is happy with their shared silence. She doesn't want to get too chatty with these people, lest they get some important info out of her through their little wily tricks. So they're kind of just maintaining their silence as they walk. After hours of this seemingly out of nowhere, Nesta holds her fist up and commands Bryce to stop.

[Ad Voice 1]

Cool.

[Natalie Jean]

You're a soldier kind of girl, aren't you?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

As though she's seen or heard something, Bryce obeys, but she can't spot anything different.

[Natalie Jean]

But then, as Bryce stepped forward, her star illuminated what had given the warrior pause. The tunnel widened into a large chamber, its ceiling so high even Bryce's starlight didn't reach it. And in the center of it, the path dropped away on either side, leaving only a sliver of a rocky bridge over what seemed to be an endless chasm.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

What are we, Indiana Jones over here?

[Natalie Jean]

Yes.

[Jess]

All back. So I did it at the Be Sobex. But that was before.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, so yeah, we didn't do that.

[Jess]

Yeah, we did it. I thought about it when you said the snakes parted for her. I was gonna do that, but then, you know, you gotta wait until the Indiana does strike the brain, you know? Yeah, I'm jonesing for it, I think.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Because I think you had said. Or other people had said. They don't like this part because they're in this tunnel and they stay there. Spoiler. For a while. And I was. I think I was. My mind was so altered forever by the movie the Goonies. I was just. I was like, I don't care. I'll follow them through cave. They're gonna Fall. Fun. Kind of fun stuff in there. Yeah, it's good.

[Jess]

I mean, treasure, you know, stuff's gonna happen.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And here they are. They're on a big old scary bridge.

[Jess]

My problem is I couldn't really follow it in my. Like, I'm so glad to go over it again because I. I feel like. I feel like I was trapped in the tunnel with them. Where it felt like I. At one point I was just like, okay, they're in the tunnel. They're in the tunnel. And that wasn't fair of me to do the book. Like, I feel like I exited the tunnel before they did.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Being spaces.

[Jess]

Yeah, I am being spaces. And I'm sorry.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I. I like this because, again, I enjoy a model episode. And this is sort of what's happening. But

[Ad Voice 2]

there.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So now they have come to this new space. They've been walking for miles and miles and miles down this tunnel. And now we're at this big old drop with a big old stone bridge across it. Cool. It's not an endless chasm, however, as though it's first looked at the bottom underneath the bridge. Because far below, Bryce can hear rushing water. She sense a mineral scent that comes with a river. Nesta mutters that the bridge in front of them is a perfect place for an ambush. Freaked out immediately. Bryce is like, by who? Nesta shrugs. Whoever. She's thinking like a warrior.

[Jess]

Yeah. Cause don't forget, she cut the ribbon. Okay.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Not if you haven't read Acotar.

[Jess]

I think at this point, you know, you. If you had run Acotar and you're at this point point in the book, I do want to know. It's like, you must not understand at all. Right.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Or I do wonder if it doesn't. It doesn't necessarily apply. We're just putting on our knowledge of the other characters. But you could come into this not knowing who they are for sure.

[Jess]

I guess I'm just more curious, like, what were your experiences with the book if you did read it that way?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Interesting. If you started out this way. So Nesta is a bit of a warrior, and she basically says, you know, I don't know what's down here. Bryce seems surprised that Nesta truly has never been down here before. She thought maybe she was tricking her. Nesta retorts that she's not old enough to know all the horrors of this world. But dark caves tend to have creatures up to no good inside them.

[Jess]

I think that that's a pretty good assumption.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Or maybe they're just living their lives and you're invading their house. Ever think of that? Bryce asks who she pissed off to end up on this duty. Bryce thinks she catches a small smile coming from Nesta at that she tells her that she actually had volunteered. Bryce is flummoxed as to why she would want to volunteer to come down here.

[Natalie Jean]

That silvery flame flashed in Nesta's eyes. A shiver slithered along Bryce's spine. Fae and yet not call it intuition, Nesta said and stepped onto the bridge.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Okay, what is this B word up to?

[Jess]

It's crazy because you're all like that could be an ambush. And then you're all like Let me go on that bridge.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Just how brave she is. And she's awesome and perfect. Minutes later they are midway across this precarious stretch of stone when Bryce hears it. The scuttling of seemingly thousands of talons from above. Oh, it's cute though if it's bats. Are you scared of bats?

[Jess]

No, I'm not.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, I think they're so cute.

[Jess]

I think bats are so cute. The only thing that ever scared me was in the which we always called the ball Tiny Bear movie, the Great Outdoors. I was scared of a bat getting into a house though, and that used to scare me just because honestly I was worried for the bat.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh sure, the bats doesn't want to be in there either.

[Jess]

No. And then it sucks because who gets hurt?

[Ad Voice 1]

The bat.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, well, I don't know if that's what's happening here. Let's see, she hears a bunch of this scraping and scrabbling around and then it's also coming from below which is.

[Jess]

Oh, nested in the chasm. Yeah, everything's gonna be fine.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Nesta draws her sword, which Bryce notes again is plain to look at, but is struck by its power. Yeah. She tells Bryce to run. And so they do. It's so overwhelming, the power exuding from Nesta and her sword, that she tries to ask Nesta what this sword is. But Nest is like not now.

[Jess]

Hurry.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She says. They both begin to move rapidly, caution against the railingless sides thrown away. They're just like picking up their pace. Even though this is a very narrow little piece of stone, the sound of wings began to descend on them. Nesta shouts to go faster. Well oh damn. Bryce thinks. It begins to truck it, hoping that there won't be any trip hazards in front of her. Then she looks up to where they are heading towards the mouth of the next section of tunnel.

[Natalie Jean]

A teeming mass of things crusted the entrance smaller than the beasts beneath the Dungeon, but almost worse, cruder, more leathery, like some sort of primordial bat lizard hybrid. Black tongues tasted the air between flesh shredding clear teeth, like the Kristalos, bred and raised for eons in darkness.

[Jess]

You were thinking bats, but maybe you should be thinking one big bat.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But not those ones, though. Those are a bunch of little ones that are all over the front of the cave. No turning back now, however, because there's nowhere to go. The shock of the sight, though, causes Bryce to sway, and she almost loses her footing off the side of the bridge. Panic spreads through her, but she finds herself her center, and she lays sprawled on the ground. So she almost tipped off the edge, and she catches herself and kind of collapses. Her relief overwhelms her, because while the creatures framing the tunnel look bad, when she fell and looked down, what she saw coming from below was much worse. So bad, in fact, that she didn't get back up right away.

[Natalie Jean]

An enormous worm, gleaming with water and mud. A mouthful of rows of teeth opened wide and snapped.

[Jess]

Bryce fell back on her ass as the worm caught three of the flying

[Natalie Jean]

lizards between those teeth, swallowed them all in one bite.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He's getting a little snack.

[Jess]

I was trying to figure out a way to dress as the midden guard worm, and it's tough. It is.

[Natalie Jean]

Is tough.

[Jess]

I didn't have enough time, but I was just like, it. I really wanted to worm at you.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I feel like you'd have to craft the top yourself.

[Jess]

You do? I. You have to. I really did genuinely look into that. I was like, you have to make the full. You have to make that, like the rows and rows of teeth you. You have to make it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's very. Some would say almost exactly the same as the dune sandworm thing, but it's different.

[Jess]

But it's different because then, like, they don't call it. But then sometimes they do.

[Ad Voice 2]

So.

[Jess]

But it's different, guys.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Different. But it is very similar face, which is just teeth in a hole.

[Jess]

But they don't call it the shy hallude, they just call it the midden garmore Guard worm.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

That's right, they do. But we didn't learn that yet, but we're about to.

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Okay.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So that is coming from below. She swings her light back towards the cave entrance, towards where Nesta lunges, and the bat things screech, either from her light or from the worm guy that's shown up. The worm flings itself upward again and takes a big mouthful of the bat things as she stares, stunned. He's just trying to have a little meal. He's hungry. The worm is nearly parallel to her as she remains frozen on the bridge. She prays it doesn't sense her because there will be no way for her to survive.

[Natalie Jean]

A strong, slim hand grabbed Bryce under the shoulder and dragged her back. Sensations pelted her, rocks scraping beneath her as she was dragged. Light and shadows and shrieking flying things. Her back stinging as debris sliced her skin.

[Jess]

The wet slap of the worm's massive

[Natalie Jean]

body as it surged from the depths again, snatching at the beast.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Nesta has taken hold of the paralyzed Bryce and dragged her into the mouth of the cave. Which is what just happened. The two of them sit just inside of the cave. All of the bat things have scattered because the worm thing has shown up to try to eat them. And so now they're kind of just like hovering right out, in, out. You know, like inside of the mouth of the cave. Watching the worm. Worm reaches up again for more snacks. And then the worm sinks down, apparently satiated. She turns to Nesta, who is staring.

[Jess]

Imagine just.

[Ad Voice 4]

Just.

[Jess]

I just imagine all that happen. Just looking over me like, what? What just happened? Do you see that worm?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She turns to Nesta, who is staring at her with something like disappointment on her face at Bryce's failure to get herself up. So Nesta's kind of like not impressed.

[Jess]

We're side eyeing over here.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. This only irritates Bryce and she's like, could you tell me what that was? Instead of giving me tips on how to be a battle warrior.

[Natalie Jean]

Nesta glanced to the shadows behind Bryce as if someone stood there. But she said, a midden guard worm.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, like Midgard. Yeah, it's like Midgard. We brought this up a long time ago on another episode because this is another reference to Acotar, the actual planet. I think when we started Crescent City, I was like, this reminds me of the word that was used with the worm.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We need a sound every time there's an Acatar reference. Do we need like a trumpet sound?

[Jess]

Oh yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Or a. I thought more like a.

[Jess]

Oh, like a sad trumpet every time there's a reference.

[Ad Voice 3]

I don't know.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

James.

[Jess]

What do you think, James?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So Bryce also sees this parallel. She asks Nesta if these came from her world. Like she sees that. Wait, this sounds like where I'm from. Is this my. From my planet? Nesta, of course, doesn't know. But she reveals that they. They're not common creatures here. And that she's only ever seen one in a painting by her sister.

[Natalie Jean]

Her sister and it didn't.

[Jess]

Yikes. And I. I thought that. I thought I was just a regular worm. I thought she was just out there drawing worms again. And I was like, that's so feyre.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Her sister had to face one once and defeated it. That's a joke about how Farah's. You know, there's fan lore that she's not good at painting, so. But she mentions in this her sister had to face one and defeated it. Nesta seems a bit disturbed. She tells Bryce that she thought her sister had exaggerated in the painting, but it was as it was depicted. Apparently, she wasn't even.

[Jess]

Come on, make the fangs real. Just like yo. Just only fangs. Oh, only fangs. It's for us, monster.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But she wasn't even aware. She tells Bryce that there was more than one of these on their planet, but apparently they're worming around underground. Nesta looks at Bryce and asks her what sort of power she has that emits that kind of light from her chest. Bryce thinks about how she was once told that it was, quote, strange and terrible light from another world, but doesn't repeat that to Nesta. Nesta asks her what court her ancestors hail from. Bryce doesn't know anything about that, but tells her she's descended from a court queen called Thea, who was starborn. As they brush themselves off, preparing to head forward again, Nessa tells Bryce that she knows a little bit about Thea now because Amren had filter in on some of that backstory. Because, again, remember, Amren only knows. Amen is the only one who knows anything about the history from that time.

[Natalie Jean]

I mean, it's got to be so difficult without Google.

[Jess]

But if you have someone that's been around for centuries, they kind of remember stuff. And that's kind of like just having kind of the same Encyclopedia Friendica. Yep.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's a stretch.

[Jess]

Yep. Everybody's. Everybody sit in it. Everybody sit in what I just said.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yep. Just sit there.

[Ad Voice 3]

So.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So basically that she is revealing something now, what she has learned about Thea. They have their own. Each of their own world's lores. And so after Nessa explains I know more about Thea now, she explains to Bryce that Thea used to be High Queen of these lands. The. The term starboard doesn't mean anything in this world. This. This piece of information is new to Bryce. Thea was High Queen here. Queen in two worlds.

[Jess]

Cool or bad?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Who knows? That could be bad.

[Jess]

Yeah, I guess. Yeah. It could mean that she's going from world to world, trying to take over, trying to crush like the hysteria, you know?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And if you get too much power, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Jess]

Whoa.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, this will probably put an even bigger target on her back. Now Bryce thinks if these Fae are anything like her Fae, they're going to be jealous and vengeful. And if she is the the heir of the starboard power of a queen of two planets, they might want to just kill her. Nesta watches her and then turns. Tells her not to be a little baby. And if they encounter anything else, to either run or fight next time instead of just freezing. Bryce's heart hurts as she thinks about how Randall would like this female. But she's also irritated and a little embarrassed. She's like, I know, thank you. I know that I'm supposed to stand up.

[Jess]

It's a bitch off. I just. There's so many bitch offs that we're going to be seeing.

[Natalie Jean]

But Nesta began walking into the tunnel once more, not waiting for Bryce or her star to light the way.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You've gotten us into enough of a

[Natalie Jean]

mess as it is, the warrior said without looking back. Keep close.

[Jess]

You're such a scary beautiful Nesta. We love you, Nesta. You are the best. And you're right, that is their couple name. Espresso. And I love this for them. And I think that that means that they're gonna be squirting milk and having sensitive nipples before you can say, get

[Natalie Jean]

me back to Midgard.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

What does that mean? Maybe we don't even know. But maybe we will. Is this another milking farm? Tune in to find out.

[Natalie Jean]

And where are all the minotaurs? Please read up until chapter 10 for next week.

[Mr. Ballin]

Hey podcast listeners. Mr. Ballin, here to let you know we are now publishing four times a week on my podcast, Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories. That's right. You'll be getting four new episodes a week covering unbelievable mysteries chilling through crime and stories so strange they sound made up. But they aren't. They're all true. Don't miss an episode. Listen to and follow Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories Wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube, traditional

[Natalie Jean]

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[Ad Voice 3]

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[Mr. Ballin]

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[Natalie Jean]

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

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[Ad Voice 4]

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

Com Licenses for ALARM License Information Tennessee2012.