ADR - Episode 556: Guardian

[00:00:18] Hello and welcome to Al Dente Rigamortis. I'm Review Cultist. I'm Mikey. He stands for evil. I'm the Gamer in Yellow. And we're here to discuss those internet stories, most creepy and most pasta, and be critically silly doing it. And tonight we have a return to the Won't Think Straight saga. Guardian. So yeah, Guardian, it's by Won't Think Straight on Reddit NoSleep. You can check it out there along with all the other Won't Think Straight stories.

[00:00:48] This is the guy that basically like he didn't believe in Supernatural until he came face to face with one. Wow. Now he's trying to show the world that his life is actually really weird. Or the world around him is really weird as his eyes opened up to it. Yeah, started with like that trip to Vietnam. And he saw the poop ghost. Oh yeah, the toilet ghost.

[00:01:18] It wasn't poop, it was a toilet. It was stocking the toilet. Yeah, it was a toilet ghost, yeah. It was a poop-adjacent ghost. Yeah, the toilet ghost. Mm-hmm. We're really doing him dirty describing shit like this. Oh man. That one was actually pretty good. Yeah, I actually really liked that one. Again, we really liked these ones. It's just like, yeah, we've been doing them for a while. They go, I think they're like, I think it's like 14 stories. And I think we're on like maybe the 11th or 10th. We're on 12th. Are we on the 12th one? Okay. That was close.

[00:01:48] This is one of the few things I'm actually keeping track of. All right. So yeah. Before we get too far ahead though, we should give our initial recommendations and such for Guardian. I'm going to recommend it. I'm going to partially recommend. I'll recommend this one. All right. Well, let's check out why we gave those recommendations, partial recommendations and see if anything changes.

[00:02:19] Starting with the rundown. So, won't think straight has a new story to tell this time about his great grandmother, a long lived woman of 106. WTS, as I'll be calling him for the short form, is among the few people she actually likes these days, though sadly, she recently passed. But before that, she passed on the secret of her longevity to WTS.

[00:02:48] You see, great grandma Cassandra was known by people as Cassandra the Blessed or the Cursed, depending on your point of view. Throughout her life, she had narrowly avoided life threatening tragedies, disasters and accidents. How? She would see a creepy tall man with shark teeth at various moments in her life beckoning to her. And in these instances, she would always flee the other way rather than approach.

[00:03:19] Only to find out later that the bus she might have taken, the trip she might have gone on, etc. Had ended in the deaths of the others involved in those trips or situations. This all started when she first saw the man digging a large hole in the yard of her family home. A hole that no one else could see. And to that point, actually, no one has ever seen the man.

[00:03:48] It's only been great grandma Cassandra. Since then, she has always had two Rottweilers by her side as she sleeps. She told this story in that same bed on the eve of her birthday party to her favorite great grandson, WTS. Who left that night never to see her alive again. They found Cassandra half eaten and with a broken neck.

[00:04:14] This whole matter amidst his grief has left WTS now to wonder about great grandma Cassandra's guardian. And if he was, in fact, in the room that night when she told him the story. So yeah, that's basically the quick and dirty for guardian. And I suppose we'll move on to... Everyone, Tolerance the Graham Inquisitions! At this point.

[00:04:44] And I've got a couple. Gonna start with this one here. She had a story tell. And I felt that like this audience would appreciate it. So it should... I feel like it should read... She had a story to tell. And I felt that this audience would appreciate it. Yeah. So, added two and then also removed that like. Yes, it seems smoother that way. Yeah.

[00:05:14] And then my last one... Actually, my only other one I have is this one here. Feeling vulnerable and unsure if she was going crazy, she stood as far away as possible, desperately counting down the hours for the bus would arrive. So at the end there, I think it should actually be counting down the hours till the bus would arrive. Or the bus to arrive? Yeah, I was also considering that as well. But then I added the till.

[00:05:44] Like hours till the bus would arrive. Cause like that also worked. But also yeah, till the bus... Yeah, like I guess the other way around it would be counting down the hours for the bus to arrive would also work as well. Those are both, I feel like adequate improvements. But yeah, that's it for grammar acquisition for me. So... Mikey, these stands for evil. I have a conjunction junction. I kind of suspected. All right.

[00:06:12] And next stop, conjunction junction. Doot doot! It's been a while since I've written, but my great grandmother Cassandra recently passed away. It's as if in defiance, she smoked like a chimney, drank like a sailor, ate like a glutton, and all ended all those things that were supposed to be bad and send you to an early grave.

[00:06:39] But when she loved you, she loved you with all her heart. And she was Cassie the cursed. But only after the party was finished, and we were alone. It was about long ago. One summer's night when she was asleep in that very bed.

[00:07:06] It was a bad dream, and nothing more. And she had Rottweilers sleeping with her ever since. And she saw the stranger laugh, then sink those teeth into the passenger beside him. It was hit by the westbound Santa Fe mail train number seven, killing twenty-one people.

[00:07:37] Because the stranger was always waiting for her. And until she relented, he kept extracting payment from those around her. And I think it's time for you to go home. It's time now. It's been a few weeks.

[00:08:01] It helps to think that it is my duty to tell her story, as I was the only person to hear the last word she ever spoke. And to stop thinking that maybe that fateful night in her room, we weren't alone. And that those last words she uttered were not meant for me. Wow. That was very disjointed.

[00:08:29] Like, early on, it felt like it was going to dive into a... Like, it's like, she smoked a chimney that would like, it's an early grave. Um, but when she loved you, she loved you with all your heart. And then she took me to her bedroom. I was like, what? Where's this going? Oh, God. And then it didn't go anywhere like that at all, thankfully. And it went to like, just a more disjointed version of the story.

[00:08:55] And then her last words, the words that weren't meant for WTS, but were meant perhaps for the stranger. And it was time to go. Uh, for those unaware, Mikey grabs all the sentences throughout a story that started the words that they probably shouldn't like its ends or buts, because there's always better words to use. Indeed. Uh, so gamer. Uh, you actually didn't get any grammar stuff. Okay.

[00:09:24] Then I suppose we shall move on to actual thoughts. You start with the first sentence here. We're off to a great start with this story, by the way. And it's been a while since I've written about my great grandmother, Cassandra recently passed away. And it's been a while. Sorry. As soon as the story- How I didn't see that coming. Like, why didn't I see that coming? As soon as the story started, like it was like with it's been a while, I immediately jumped into it. And it's been a while.

[00:09:55] By Nickelback. Did you sing the entire story as you were reading it then? Oh, God, no. It was just that like that first bit. I was like, wow, we're off to a great start. I'm already like singing. I'm already referencing a song. Uh, but no back to the more serious stuff of the story. Um, so got this quote here.

[00:10:19] Halfway through their trip, they were scheduled to fly to London via Dublin, arriving at the airport in good spirits. Cassie stopped short of the airline counter and suggested to Peter, they should stay another day. Didn't we just read this story? Distorted warning signals. Yeah, we did. Like, no, no bullshit.

[00:10:42] I didn't know what this story was going to be about when I chose it to like, to be the next story in our, in our lineup. Um, so I did not know that we were going to inadvertently kind of have two relatively similar or like connected stories via like the, the circumstances or like the situation of having a guardian angel or like, um, avoiding, avoiding death, basically story. It's, it's kind of the same.

[00:11:08] It's very, it's very similar, but like this one goes in a lot more detail on like some of the tragedies. And actually I'll get into that in this, actually into my next comment here, which is, uh, uh, during the time of like when they're visiting the empire state building, a plane had crashed into, into empire state building, sending the elevator crashing down 75 floors. 14 people died in the upper levels from the accident.

[00:11:33] So first off grammar acquisition, just brief one, uh, into the empire state building, but also wait, is this a real event? Looked it up on, on Wikipedia. Yep. The 1945 empire state building B 25 crash. Um, they even like explained in the story that says that it was a really foggy day. So they wouldn't have seen much in there.

[00:11:56] And the cause the, the primary suspected cause of the crash, uh, in the, in real life was that it was incredibly foggy. And so it couldn't get through to like LaGuardia and it ended up crashing into the empire state building. And it killed 14 people on the 75th floor. Jeez. So yeah.

[00:12:18] And, and checking the other instances that are in this story, including the, the, the flight that we just mentioned, um, all of these seem to be real events that MTS is great grandmother avoided. Like I looked, I kept looking them up and I kept like, like punching in the number, like punching in the dates, punching in the, the, the, the incident and like where it happened. And yeah, sure enough, there was a tragic event that happened on the, on the, on those dates. Jeez.

[00:12:44] So it was like, wow, the story is like pulling from like historical tragedy. Right there, I guess. Yeah. It was like, one of them is, is like, uh, like, uh, we were planning on taking a nice trip to Canada, to Halifax. And we're just like, no, we shouldn't go this time. And then that was when the Halifax explosion happened. That that's not in the story, but like, that's like one of the ones that like, I guess like I could see like being added. We should take a trip to Chernobyl.

[00:13:13] Nah, nah. It blows up. Yeah. Well, it didn't blow, it technically didn't blow up. It just melted down, which is, um, kind of worse. I know. I was. I know. Um, but, uh, I'll move on to the next thing I have here. Uh, my friend Steve jokingly calls her Schrodinger's grandma. He was, or he has a semi-serious theory. That Cassie was a localized quantum probability wave function singularity.

[00:13:43] Someone that sucked up all the good luck around her. Nature would have to then compensate by pushing bad luck to anyone, to, pushing bad luck to everyone else. Filling in the void and restoring equilibrium. This sounds, yet again, very similar to the final destination situation, uh, that we kind of brought up like last time. But also, when I, when we got to this part, like, this, this theory that, um, that Steve brought up.

[00:14:12] And, and Steve is actually from one of the other stories, um, that WTS has written about. Um, the, the whole, like, idea of, like, her being, like, a localized quantum probability wave function singularity. The, basically drawing in all the good luck and then, like, the world having to, like, create an equilibrium. Is almost like the magic system in the Russian urban fantasy novel Nightwatch by Sergei, uh, Lukianenko. Or Lukianenko.

[00:14:41] Um, where, where magic or, like, the use of, like, supernatural elements or, like, when, like, the two supernatural, there's two supernatural, like, factions. Like, the light ones and the dark ones. And, basically, whenever the light ones, like, use, like, positive magic or good magic and stuff like that to help people and stuff. The dark side, uh, basically gets to use an equal amount of, of dark magic in response. So it's Star Wars. It's, it's sort of like that.

[00:15:09] It's more of, like, kind of, like, using, uh, like, uh, I guess, like, almost like a karma system. Like, for every action, there is a reaction. Like, every time the, the light ones use, uh, like, strong amounts of magic, the dark ones get, uh, get to use, like, dark magic on, on the world. Whenever the dark magic or users get to, like, use magic for their own gain, the light ones get to create miracles. Uh, and there's also been a bunch of stuff where, like, there's, like, uh, like, basically, um, like, uh, misfire.

[00:15:39] Or, uh, or, like, bad luck storms that form around people, around, around certain people. Like, kind of in, like, the same situation as, is, uh, sort of theorized for, for Grandma Cassie here. Um, basically, like, there's just this, like, maelstrom where, like, they're at the focal point and everything around them is, like, like, being, is terrible. Uh, because, like, they're just, they're basically, like, causing this, like, negative energy wave to be, like, released.

[00:16:07] But, yeah, it kind of reminded me of that kind of, like, magic system, uh, from that, from that series. Um. Basically, the world would be fine if just no one used magic. Well, no, it's not even that, because, like, um, it's, like, it's not even, like, just, like, magic uses. It's just basically, um, because, like, magic is also, like, tied to, like, how, like, people who are created, who turned into, like, supernatural beings, like, vampires and werewolves. And, like, shapeshifters and stuff like that. So, like, it's, it's unfortunate, like, it's, it's.

[00:16:37] There is no real, like, middle ground for it. Like, it's, it's just a thing that happened long ago. And now, like, the world deals, uh, deals with this by, like, having these two opposing factions. Um. Like, it would be, like, yes, people could technically, like, just not use magic and then the world might be better. But the world would also be blander for that. Because there would be no miracles, there would be no terribleness, it would just be kind of blah. It'd just be, like, a terrible gray.

[00:17:06] It would have a terrible gray with no, like, it would be, it'd be balanced, as you said. Because, like, there'd be no extremely horrible things, but no extremely nice things as well. Well, it's not even just, like, it's not even extreme stuff. It's, like, also, like, normal stuff you couldn't do. I think miracles are an extreme niceness. No, no, but, like. Evil people casting, like, evil magic and shit is evil, is, like, extreme badness of, like, murder. It's also, like, small miracle stuff.

[00:17:34] So, like, like, yeah, we wouldn't have, like, we may not have fear in that world. But then we wouldn't, also wouldn't have hope. It's, like, that kind of equilibrium. We have both of those right now in our real world where we don't have magic. Are you sure that we don't have magic? No. I think that's kind of where it's sort of getting at in that series. It's, like, there is this, like, secret society or the secret world. Oh, really? I've never heard about that before. Yeah, I know.

[00:18:04] But I think just, like, as a way of explaining, like, basically, like, when you're having a bad day and they're, like, oh, well, your bad day is probably because there's a vampire nearby that's siphoning all the good luck around. Or, like, causing a hex or a curse or something like that. Or, like, oh, you have a good day. Oh, that's because you're in the proximity of, like, a miracle worker. But, yeah. Um, yeah. I'm oversimplifying. Of course. But I digress. Gonna move on to the next thing I have here.

[00:18:35] The bus was later found stopped at a rail crossing 12 miles south of Albuquerque. It was hit by the westbound Santa Fe mail train number seven, killing 21 people. And so, like, I read this one and then I typed up, like, again, typed in the same, like, kind of information on Google and, like, wow, this one, too. Typing in the date and train description brought me to a goddamn archived newspaper article from the New York Times.

[00:19:08] Um, like, it's just, like, almost deep cuts of, like, tragic events or, like, accidents or, like, situations that happened. Um. Um. And then we get this part here. Uh, she was Cassie the Blessed, people would think. She must have a guardian angel. She was Cassie the Cursed, she knew. Because the stranger was always waiting for her.

[00:19:33] And until she relented, he kept extracting payment from those around her. So, I like the setup here. The, the use of a, of historic tragedies and, and accidents, um, is interesting and also kind of impressive. Just, like, of, like, how accurate, or, like, because, again, like, when I, when I first started reading these, I was like, wait, this, there's a lot of detail here for, like, this one.

[00:19:59] And then you type in those details and it is actually an event that you can pull up on Google. Um. Like, from, like, uh, records and stuff like that. Um. And, and given the number used and how some of these are, like, just D-cuts, I think part of why this doesn't bug me as much as it has in other stories. Because we've had other creeppastas that, like, pull from real tragedies. Um. And I've kind of gotten a wiggy feeling about it. Like, there's one with a caver. Um.

[00:20:28] That was, like, 10 years ago. Like, the incident. Um. I, I think for the case of these ones, like, it, the tragedies are, there's a gap between, like, then and now. For most of these tragedies. Like, they're, they're all fairly older historical tragedies. Like, in the 20th century. Um. Kind of glossed over. It's, it's not, like, it's not held on. Yeah, like, the whole story isn't about that. Yes. And about, like, about somebody in that.

[00:20:56] It's just about, like, it's, like, the person. Also, this person isn't, like. The story also, I, I feel the story kind of subtly, uh, insinuates that, like, or, like, kind of leaves it up in the air about, like. Exactly, like, how involved the supernatural is in causing these events. Like, to me, it never really kind of felt like the, the creature was doing these events. Or was causing these events, like, directly. But they were just kind of, like, hanging around, waiting for the victims. So that it could, they could, it could feed on that. Kind of like a reaper spirit in Shadowrun.

[00:21:26] Sorry. Yeah. Where, like, they are a spirit. Um. And as described in the, um. In, in the running wild supplement. Um. Of fourth edition Shadowrun. Uh. Page. Um. Reaper spirits are basically spirits that, like, linger around hospitals. Or, like, places of, like, large death. Or, like, or, like, uh. Or, like, a dramatic death and stuff like that. Or tragic deaths. Um. Feeding on the death energy. Of those places. And that's kind of what I got the impression of this thing. And this thing just decided to, like.

[00:21:57] Make itself known to this one girl. This lady. And, and, and. Just kind of, like, uh. Follow along. And. It, like. If, if it can't get her. Because it's, for some reason, infatuated with her. Um. It's just going to feed off of, like. The, the souls that were affected by the accidents and such. Maybe, like you said. It's just always going around to these horrible events. But, because of the bad luck of her. Like. Yeah.

[00:22:26] He knows that she's not supposed to be part of this. Like, the first time. But she kept showing up. So, she's just like. Like. I think that's also why. This isn't creepy. Like, some of the. Sorry. Creepy is a bad term for it. Why it sounds skeevy. Yeah. Yeah. Because. It's not saying. Oh. These real life tragedies were caused by the supernatural. It's saying. These real life tragedies happened. And this supernatural creature. Saved this one woman. From these tragedies happening. Because it doesn't outwardly say.

[00:22:55] That the creature's doing it. Yeah. Sort of the both things. Like. She is a. Sort of a magnet. To these tragedies. Like. These things that are going to happen. Like. These low. She basically. She is literally the embodiment of wrong place. Wrong time. But. And this creature. This entity. This supernatural entity. Has like. Taken note of that from her. Like. Off of her spirit. Or her soul. And so that's why it makes herself. Itself known to her.

[00:23:26] And it's also allowing her. To avoid disaster. By like. When she sees this thing. She sees this wrong thing. Beckoning her to come closer. She goes the other way. And in so doing. Basically averts her own disaster. But. The. But doesn't like. Warn anybody about the other. The impending disasters that are happening. And then this creature just feeds off of the. The. The disaster that happens. If she did try to warn the people. They wouldn't listen to her. Because she just sounded like a crazy person. Exactly. That's sort of the. The horror of like.

[00:23:55] Of skepticism. Is like. Even if you have. These gifts. Like. What are the chances people are going to actually. Take you seriously. Because like. You're one person. That's spouting. Crate nonsense. So. Yeah. Like. Like people. People need to have like. Uh. Like need to like. See to believe. Kind of thing. For the most part. So. Um. And that's again. The horror of it. Is like. Because like. It's. It's not even like. The boy who cried wolf. Kind of situation.

[00:24:25] Except. It's like that. But like. Very like. Sudden. Like. Like. Like. Kind of like. Like. Just compress that story. Of the moral of that story. Is like. The way our world works. And the way people work. Is like. One person. Spouting. Not. Spouting something. That doesn't seem. Right. To everybody else. They're not going to believe. That person. Until. Tragedy strikes. And even then. They might just. Fuck up that accident. So. That being said. Considering this. Keeps happening to her.

[00:24:55] It. She could. Get well enough. Known in the area. That if she says. Don't do something. And they'd be like. Okay. You know what. Fine. Well. And. Well. To a degree. That actually. Is happening in the story. It's just. People are just. Kind of like. Chalking up. It's like. She's just really lucky. So. She's the blessed. Or the cursed. Because. Like. Death follows her. But also. She's able to avoid death. Whenever. It's weird that she doesn't. Attempt to warn anyone. Now that you bring that up though. Yeah. So. She's kind of like. She knows. Maybe. Yeah. Like.

[00:25:26] Maybe the story could have had. Like. She's. She tried in the past. But. Like. As time went on. She just became more crotchy. And that's why. She's kind of become more. Of like. A crotchy old woman. Like a misanthrope. Oh. Yeah. Because she is like. Basically. She's like. Like. The way it's described at the beginning. It kind of just. Like. I just kind of shrugged it off. It's like. Oh. She's crotchy old woman. That like. Only likes. Like a select amount of. Her grandkids. Because like. That's a thing that happens in real life. Like. I've had. Like. I know. Grandparents. Grandparents. That were like. Hate everybody.

[00:25:55] Except for like. A select circle of our. Of the family. Or. I mean. She's like. They deep down. Love the family. But like. They only like. Certain members of the family. Like. Oh. They have favorites. Certain ones. Yeah. They have favorites. But like. That's the thing. But like. Yeah. This would actually give an explanation. As to like. Why she has favorites. And so. Because like. Or like. Or why she's so crotchety. You know. Like her mood otherwise. So. But yeah. That's. That's actually pretty interesting. Like. That could be something.

[00:26:25] That could be added to the story. I feel. Or like. Explained. Like. She. She. Like. Says in her story. Like. She tried to. Be a good person. But like. No one really seemed to believe her. And just gave her that nickname. Of. Or the blessed. Um. And so. That's why she just like. Hates everybody. Or she doesn't care about. Uh. Like. She's had to like. Basically. She's basically been losing her humanity. Like. Part of her humanity. Every time. This happens. Or like. She disassociates. From humanity. Or from. From people.

[00:26:55] Um. The fact that she has a nickname. Yeah. Kind of makes it feel like. It doesn't really make sense. That they wouldn't believe her. You know. Well. No. It doesn't. You never. Like. I know in my family. We do kind of have a nickname. For like. A couple. Of. Of relatives. That are like. Not the. Or not the favorite. Not really like. The greatest. So like. Or are kind of weird. So like. That's sort of a. Like. To me that makes sense.

[00:27:25] Like. There. There. There would be a nickname. Although like. Especially like. Given. That the family knows. The nickname. Yeah. I'm saying that the nickname. Specifically. Is. Saying that death. Follows this person. Or this person is extremely lucky. They always avoid every. Huge accident. That happens. Yeah. So. If that person goes around. If someone with that kind of. Um. Like mystique. And like. Aura about them. Or whatever. Or um.

[00:27:55] Goes around saying that. You would tend to believe them. Considering they keep surviving. All of these. Events. Like. If someone is. Prophesizing all these bad. Tragedies happening. And they keep happening. When they say they're going to happen. Someone's going to start believing them. I feel like. Again. I feel like you're. You're sort of. Underestimating. Especially after over 106 years. Yeah. Over 100. Yeah. Yes. But like. Again. How. Like. Like. Maybe. Again. She might have. Start trying to like.

[00:28:25] Start warning people early on. And like. But then like. Stopped. Because like. No one was believing her. So she kept quiet about that. So only the family really knows. Or her. Her friends. Or like. Her. Her inner. Her immediate circle of. Of people around her. Would know about that kind of stuff. Yeah. It wouldn't have grown. Yeah. We don't really know. How wide. Spanned. Like. Nickname is. Yeah. I kind of just assumed. It was like a family name. Kind of thing. Or like. Something. Yeah. Friends and family. Kind of knew about her. Because it sounded like.

[00:28:54] Like people like. Consider. Oh. It's Cassandra the blessed. And then like. She's the one that corrects them. Actually. It's cursed. Because like. But she never like. She never seems to like. Clarify. Why she means that. Or why she says that. And so like. Again. Like that could be something. That could be added to the story. Is like. Well. Like. Like. This is what Cassandra. Like. Imparts on. On WTS. Is that like. The reason I keep. Correcting people. That I'm like. I'm the cursed. Not the blessed. Is because I've been seeing. This creepy stranger.

[00:29:25] All my life. And then she starts to go. Like really crazed. The way she says it. Oh. But yeah. Um. Yeah. Some good. Some good ideas there. To like. Perhaps like. Um. Elaborate on the story. A bit more. Um. And then. The next thing I have. Is. I think actually. My last note here. Actually. Um. It helps to think. That. It is my duty.

[00:29:55] To tell her story. As I was. The only person. To hear her last words. She ever spoke. Or. To hear the last words. She ever spoke. And to stop thinking. That maybe. That fateful. Right. Oh. That fateful night. In her room. We weren't alone. And that those. Last words. She uttered. Were not meant for me. Uh. And so. As I. As I. Finished this part of the story. And like. Basically the end of the story. I was like. Oh yeah. 100%.

[00:30:25] That entity. Was probably in that room. With them. Like. Even like. When I was reading the part. Where like. She was telling him. Like to go home. And like. That it was her time. I was definitely getting. The kind of the feeling. It's like. Oh it's definitely. In the room with her. Like in the shadows somewhere. Like she's looking. Straight up says. That she was staring. Like into the middle. Behind him. Yeah. Yeah. She was basically. It was behind him. The whole time. And like. She was just looking over his shoulder. Kind of thing. Yeah. It's saying. It's right there. Because like. No one ever sees it. She knows that. Yeah.

[00:30:54] She's not freaking out. Because she's been seeing it. For like. 80, 90 years. Yeah. For sure. Also. Like. Yeah. It's. It's like. It's basically a buddy horror. In a way. You want to. Yeah. It is. Technically. When your buddy is deaf. Yeah. Pretty much. Super spirit. Just like. It's like. Well Cassandra. It's time to go. It's finally time to go. Break. Chomp. Although. Because it does say like.

[00:31:24] Like. The Rottweilers. Were the ones that like. Chomp. Like. Must have fed on her. Well they're blaming the poor dog. Yeah. They're blaming the dogs. Also those. Like. They never. Like. Explain what happened to those dogs afterward. But I guess like. That's fine. Don't need to know about that. But yeah. Like. Her neck broke. And then. She got a bunch of chomps. But then like. We do. We did see earlier. That like. When. When the. When the stranger got on the bus. He took a chomp. Down on the passenger next to him. Oh you're right. So like. That's where I think. They were. It could have been the dogs. Like getting hungry.

[00:31:54] Or it was. It was meant to be like. That it was actually the stranger. But yeah. Yeah. But ultimately. Again. This still has like. Kind of the buddy horror theme. Of like. This supernatural creature. That's been. Like kind of. Associated. With this horror. That happens with this character. Like again. Like they're. They're defying death. Or avoiding death. Every chance they get. Every time they see this entity.

[00:32:25] And so like. This entity. Kind of is. Helping them. Like avert destruction. But it's also like. The horror is also that it's. It is. This. You are avoiding this doom. But then that doom. Is still happening to some. Some people. That this thing gets to feed off of. So. But yeah. I did kind of like that. Like brought. The like. By the end. It was kind of. It wrapped it all around. With like.

[00:32:54] That it was probably in the room. That night. When they were. Having that. When she was imparting this knowledge. To WTS. And like told him to leave. And that. She basically had accepted. That like this was. Like it was her time now. Well. I mean. What a way to go. Going out with a bang on her. On your birthday. Like your birthday. Becomes your death day. Mm-hmm. But yeah. That's my. That's my actual thoughts. For this one.

[00:33:25] So. Mikey. The East Stands for Evil. Well. I liked. The premise. You have the. Person that dodges. Basically death. Yeah. Um. Because. That's been done before. It's a. A fun concept. Yeah.

[00:33:54] We literally covered it last week. Yeah. Last week. The. The part. That. I. Don't get. Because it's not. Made clear. Is. Why did the. Entity decide to show itself. To her. Yeah. That's true. Like. There didn't seem to be any death. Happening. Around. Her. Window. Yeah. The very. The start. The first one. Yeah.

[00:34:25] Yeah. Yeah. Like. There was not. Like. Because. Like. She even got her dad. Had to dig up that hole. And there was nothing there. Like. It could have. It could have been that. Like. Maybe there was. Um. Like. He dug up the hole. And there was like. A gas leak. Or something like that. And he died digging the hole. Or something like that. Like. Because like. There was like. Like. Something on the property. That was causing some kind of a. An illness or something. But like. No. It's just like. He just like. Showed up. Like. Like. One day. Kind of made himself known to her.

[00:34:55] And. Then. Like. And then left. After digging the hole that. That. Or digging this invisible hole. That no one else could see. Except for her. It's just like. When he materializes. He needs to find. A human. To. Like. Witness him. So he. He literally just. Was making noise outside. For the first person. To hear. To hear him. And then. Like. He links with that person. By like. Jump scaring them. And then. Now he has like. A link to. Like.

[00:35:25] The earthly realm. Yeah. Or. He could have been like. Kind of foretelling. Like. When she was actually going to die. All those years ago. It was like. You're going to die in this home. Um. Like. Kind of. But like. He. Because he never says anything to her. But like. So like. Maybe he can't communicate with her. Like. With words. But he can do it like. Through like. With gestures and stuff like that. And like. Kind of almost like a. A macabre charade. Um. But uh. That's the real long con. If that's what he was doing. Well again.

[00:35:54] He might just be a reaper spirit. That's just like. Hey man. It's like. It's like. Hey. So this is how you're going to. Like. I know. That you're going to. You're going to be. Witnessed to a bunch of death. And just. And tragedy. For the next. For your next. Hundred and six year. Hundred years. So in that. So. So I'll just go be a nice. In my weird supernatural way. This is where you're going to die. Yeah. Yeah. My problem is.

[00:36:24] It's not really. Clear. Yeah. Um. It is. Sort of an odd one. Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean. Every other instance. He's. There to. Kill someone. Yeah. Right. So. And no one died. There. Yeah. So. Yeah. That. That makes it. Sort of a. Well. See. Like. For me anyway. Yeah. Yeah. Because like. I can.

[00:36:54] I can see. I can see where you're coming from. Because like. Even I was like. Yeah. Well. Like. Why didn't that happen? But. At the same time. I also can see that being kind of creepy. Just like. Out of context. Because like. What are we not knowing? Like. What are we not. What are we not catching? Um. It's sort of like that. Like. Fear of the. Maybe not fear of the unknown. Specifically. But like. That kind of. Out of context horror. Like. We're not. Getting what it's trying to get across. Yeah. Yeah. That. That was. My main.

[00:37:25] Issue. I guess. With this story. Okay. That. That. That. An entity that seems to. Be. Very close to death. Throws up. And doesn't do anything death related. Other than dig a hole. Listen. It's. It's a spirit of the end. It's not good with intros. It's not good at beginnings. It's good at endings. Yeah. You're right.

[00:37:56] But. Like. If they wanted to tie it together. They could have had her. Buried in the yard. Or something. Yeah. Like. That's where. She's. Like. In her will. Her father dug up years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Like. That could be in her will. And some of that. But that. Honestly. Probably should have been mentioned at the end. Like. When he's like. Talking about them. Like. Like she's been dead for a couple weeks. We had the funeral. Oddly enough. It was in the spot. On her lawn. On her property. Where. Where the. Where she said the thing had dug a hole.

[00:38:27] Yeah. I wouldn't know that specifically. Well. He. Well. You know. She told him that. Yeah. She might have been out the window. He's right there. Where. And actually. Doug. That. That spot. And so. That. And then like. In her old age. Like. As she's hit like. 106. She's like. I'm going to put this in my will. You know. I feel like. Like. I should just be buried there. Like. I could.

[00:38:57] I could see that kind of being. Like sort of a. Like something that the character would do. Later in life. It's not like. The creature. Choosing it. Through fate. Well. The creature chose it. And then. She accepted it. Like she's. Because that's kind of. She's been running. She's been running from her destiny. All her life. And now she's finally come to accept it. My god. The story literally gave us a plot hole.

[00:39:28] An actual hole. I just realized that. Yeah. Like a literal plot hole. Yeah. All right. Well. That's the end of my actual thoughts. All right. Well. As we climb out of the six foot plot hole. Gamer. Let's see. What haven't we touched on? Uh. This year. Where it says. Even at her age. She was very spry and independent.

[00:39:57] She didn't suffer fools gladly. So. When I first read that. I thought that was a typo. But that is actually a saying. Apparently. Oh yeah. To not put up with something. Yep. I've never heard that before. So I learned a thing. Yeah. Fair. What were you going to say? I did also. I remember reading that part. And thinking it was kind of odd. The way it was placed in the sentence. Because like. It was just like. I think it's. It's just that part. It's like. Yes. It's like how.

[00:40:27] Like. I understand that it's a. It's a good thing to put there. But like. It feels like it should connect somehow. To what was being said. Yeah. It could just go at the end of the previous sentence. But I think it's. Tab down for emphasis. Yeah. Again. To show like. How crotchety she is. Mm-hmm. Then. My next note is basically how. Um. Uh. I forget who the guy was. Um. Had a semi-serious theory that.

[00:40:57] Cassie was a localized quantum probability wave function singularity. That someone sucked up all the good luck around them. Nature would have them compensate by pushing all the bad luck on everyone else. Filling the void and restoring equilibrium. Isn't that what I kind of did for my headcanon of the previous episode? Kind of. That it wasn't said. But that's kind of what I thought was happening. Like she was inadvertently causing that. Even though the story does not say that at all. That's exactly what you came up with. Yeah. Yeah. Also the guy's name was Steve.

[00:41:28] Right. Oh that was the Steve. Yeah. Steve from Cracks and Bones. How nice. Yeah. Steve from accounting. No he's the. He's the one that was like the psychology major. Yes. Yeah. It was just kind of funny like. Reading through the story. It's like. I'm getting the premise of the story. It's like okay. This is the same as last week. And then. It gets to this part. It's like okay. That's the headcanon that I came up with last week. What's going on here? And now Steve looks like what Gamer looks like. Oh yeah. It's just like I. Am Steve.

[00:41:58] That was always Steve. No. That does not mean I look like Jack Black. You play Steve in the Minecraft movie. Yeah. Thank you for getting the reference. I was going. It's like. I am Steve. Steve. And then. My only other note honestly is. It says. As I blew the candles. And made my birthday wish. I joked that all I wanted.

[00:42:27] Was for her secret. To long life. She looked at me with sad serious eyes. While everyone else laughed. When I first read that. I was like. Oh no. What if his wish coming true. Happens. But. Doing so. Takes the gift of long life. Away from her. So. She would have lived longer. If he didn't wish to know. But now that he knows. He has the gift of long life. But he literally killed her. By doing so. Yeah. Basically like the.

[00:42:56] The blessing slash curse of the guardian. Gets transferred. Especially since. Like. It was said. That she died soon after that party. And then he wishes to know about. Her long life. Like that night. So it kind of seems like. Killed her. I know. Well again. Like not. Like yeah. Like it's in the same way. Like she killed all those people. By avoiding disaster. Yeah. Court unquote killed. Yeah. Like I was definitely thinking. Like there was going to be a scene. At the end. Like where he like.

[00:43:26] I thought I felt like. Eyes staring at me. When she stared behind me. Like behind me. Or something like. Like that it was like. Watching him now. And that he was going to be. The next chosen. Of the. Of the guardian. But it doesn't seem like it. I mean maybe. We again. We haven't gotten another story. Where like the guardian. Shows up again. Or like he's starting to like. See it now. But. It could be part of. Expanding the.

[00:43:56] WTS's MCU. Or like cinematic universe. Over like. I think early. Like about halfway through. These stories. We were kind of. Like almost creating. Its own like. Cinematic universe. Of characters. At the end of this. The amount of stuff. That happens. To him. Or around him. He might just like. Have a bunch of like. Creepy stuff happening to him. Simultaneously. Yeah. And then he has to like. Rally in like. All the people that. All the surviving. Characters that have like.

[00:44:26] Had weird shit. Or from these stories. Characters. And then the last. Last story. Is just like. Well guys. I don't know about you. But after all this. I won't think straight. Credits. Wow. Maybe won't think straight. We're the friends we learned. We've been along the way. It's like. It's like that. I don't know if you guys. Like. See a bunch of stuff. For like. The arcane show. But like. There's. I know there's been some. Like some.

[00:44:55] Memes of like. The shows. The arcane show. Was going to end. With like. The characters like. What are we? Some kind of. League of legends. Yeah. I've actually been wanting to watch that show. It's good. Be prepared to cry. Okay. Like. Be prepared to have your heartstrings pulled. That's usually a good sign though. Like. Yeah. It means they. Care and know about storytelling. Regardless.

[00:45:25] Unrelated to the story we're talking about now. Completely. But we digress. Right. We're on my notes. That was my last note. Final thoughts time. All right. Final thoughts. Bam. And then we can go back to arcade. And then we can go to watch arcade. Great. No. So yeah. Final thoughts. Yeah. I'm still going to recommend this. It's. It's a bit sad. Like. It actually had. Had like. Kind of a through line of. Like. Not just because of the tragedies. Of the deaths that were happening. But also just this. Like. Have like.

[00:45:54] I don't know. Like the sadness. Of like. Like. A grandson. And their. And his grandmother. Uh. The passing of a torch. Sort of. They were like. The imparting of. Of knowledge. From like the. From the. Uh. From an older generation. To a newer generation. And it had like. A bittersweetness to it. While also. Having this creepy. Underlying. Uh. Aspect of recognition. And discovery. Of actual tragic events. Of like. How deep the rabbit hole went. Because like. As I was like. Reading the story. And like. Getting these. Uh. These different like.

[00:46:25] Uh. Near death experiences. For Cassandra. And then like. I would like. Look up those events. Like. Oh shit. That's a real one. That's a real. Are these all real. Like deaths. That have happened. In history. Um. They were like. And then even like. The last one. Like the. The bus. The uh. The last one that was mentioned. Was uh. Which was the bus. Getting hit by the uh. By the Santa Fe mail train. Like. Literally. There is an. An article. That's archived. By New York Times. During that year. In. I think it's in August. Or April.

[00:46:55] Um. Where. Yeah. No. Like a Santa Fe mail train. Like. Strikes a. Strikes a. Strikes a bus. Killing 21 people. It's like. Jesus. That's a deep cut. Um. So it kind of left me. With that kind of like. Creepy. Dread. Underlying. Tone. Of like. Like all these events. Are actually like. Are real outside. Of the story. But again. It doesn't play with those. With those events. Um. In a. In a disrespectful way. It just uses that. This character avoided those deaths. Which I think is fine.

[00:47:25] When it comes to uh. Telling those kind of. Telling a creep pasta. With some real life events. Like connected in. Because again. It adds that level of. Tasteful way. Real life. Death. To. A creepy story. Oh that's absolutely right. Yeah. Like it's a tasteful way. Of adding. Um. Realism to your. To your creepy story. And it. And it does kind of. Add an impact. Because like. Again this character. Like these are real events. That are connected to the real world. But the. The story we are reading. Is fiction. Otherwise.

[00:47:55] It's sort of like. Uh. In Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump. Kind of like. Navigates through all these. Real life events. And they even like. Incorporated that. By like. By comp. Uh. By comping. Uh. The character. Into footage. From those periods. Like from those events. Um. Like when he goes to like. Shake hands with like. With uh. JFK. Um. In uh. In the movie. Like. It's that kind of level of like. Fiction. Mixing with. With history.

[00:48:25] Or with reality. But like in a respectful way. That doesn't like. Trample on. The real life. Tragedy. Or the real life. Like. Facets. Um. All this to say is like. I. I did enjoy it. Um. I will recommend it. Uh. And. It was a bittersweet. Creepy story. By the end. So. Mikey. These stands for evil. Um. Well. Like I said. My. Thoughts.

[00:48:55] I like. Like. The premise. You know. Being able to avoid. Death. Um. In fact. Uh. What's that movie? Franchise? Final Destination? Yeah. That one. Yeah. The one that we referenced last week. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I enjoyed those movies. Uh. I'm pretty honest. I don't think I've ever. Fully watched one of them. I think I've just seen like. Most. Like.

[00:49:25] Killsies. On those movies. Wow. Just important parts right? I know. I know the. I know the. The. The. Like the. The. The. The plot skeleton of the movies. And I know the kills. But I've never actually sat down and watched a full movie of them. Wow. Wow. I know. Um. Yeah. So. The. Like I said. The. The.

[00:49:55] Point. Point. For me. Is. Why. Did the entity. Choose her. Yeah. Yeah. Um. And. Like. Like I said. Every other instance. Of the entity. He's there. Because people are about to die. But when he first shows up. Nobody dies. Yeah. That's. That's why I kind of. Like. Now that you brought that up. That's why I theorize that. That was just. The day he showed up. And he had to make a.

[00:50:26] A. A mortal connection. To like. Be able to. Teleport back to this world. And he chose this young girl. Because she's young. And she has lots of years left in her. Yeah. Especially if he keeps her alive. Yeah. Like. We. We as readers. Came up with like our own stuff. But I think that's. Probably what the story wanted to do. Is just. Yeah. Have us come up to our own conclusions. As to why it. Showed up with that story. But like. You could also just have like a clarify. You could also come up with your own thing. For the story. Yeah. Yeah. It would be nice if the story said it. For sure.

[00:50:56] Yeah. Yeah. So. I'm still. I'm not going to give this. This is a practical recommendation. Okay. Then. Gamer. Well for me. For what this is. It does its job well. The story being told. Feels genuine. Like there aren't any. Head scratching moments. The grammar is good. I didn't see any grammar problems. I. Some.

[00:51:25] I somehow read over all those. You say all of those. But I only found like three. Like one accidentally. Well. Well. Going to my actual thoughts. So. More than two is all. I would say. It would be more than. Than a couple of those. Few of those. I guess all would be four. Doesn't matter. Even though like. But yeah. Either way. It was good. Even after. Literally just reading. The same premise. Of a story. I still.

[00:51:55] Enjoyed reading this. Which says a lot. Because I should have been like. Ah. This again. Like I. I just read this. Like. But I wasn't bored. Because like. It had interesting. Believable characters. And all that. Yeah. I feel like this was like. Again. Outside of the. The real life. Like events. That were described. That are mentioned in this. This felt very grounded. Yeah. For sure. Like just the. The genuine. Like familial interaction. With like. A grand.

[00:52:25] A grandson. And their great grandmother. Kind of stuff. All that being said though. Mikey brought up some good points. About how. The. Like. Introduction scene. Didn't really make a whole lot of sense. And. I feel like. There should be more closure. At the end of it as well. Like connecting her. To that first scene. Yeah. Like. Like have her. Again. Like have it be that she was buried. In that.

[00:52:55] In that plot. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. So. I do feel it needs a little more. But what's here is really good. And it does this. Sort of. Story. Justice quite well. So. I'm going to change to a partial. Because it needs. A little work. Just in the intro and outro. But. It's good. It's still. A good read. It just needs. A small amount of work. I also just realized. This is now the. I think this is the second story. Within the WTS series.

[00:53:26] That has. Something being buried. Or like. Or dug up. Like. Like a hole being dug. That is like. Kind of like. Has like. Is at the beginning. And could have been at the end. Of this one. Like. Because the last one was. Like the other one I'm mentioning. Is referencing. Is the time capsule. That the. The girl found that. Like where she like. Kind of like. Shifted between realities. Like. It could have been the same. It almost like. Felt like it could have been the same. Or. The same themes. That were pulled into this one. But.

[00:53:56] Just in this one. It's more of like a. The hole is a finality. Rather than. A shift. Yes. But. I guess that. Is that what you guys say? Okay. Yeah. All right. Well. No. I. This one. Like. Again. This one was a bit more of a thought provoker. That I think some of them have been. So. Yeah. That'll. That'll do it for this week's episode. So. A recommendation. And two partial recommendations. But. Like. I think. Like. We all enjoyed the story.

[00:54:26] But like. There is room for improvement. Yeah. I think that's the general consensus. Yep. At least for me. Yeah. Mike. You're being very quiet. Wait. Was that? Nope. Nope. Okay. Yep. Okay. Well. That's it for tonight. So. If you like what you heard. Or if you didn't. Leave us a comment in the comment section below. Whether this gets posted. Whether this gets posted. Whether it gets posted at all. I mean. It's quite a shit show.

[00:54:56] It's pretty short. I mean. Like. It's like. Under an hour long. Yeah. If you like what you heard. Or if you didn't. Leave us a comment in the comment section below. If this gets posted. We're all on Twitter. Kinda. Mikey's. At the East Dance for Evil. The gamer knows. At the gamer nail. Without that W at the end. His name is very long. And he's. He's barely on there. No. I'm really not. But I'm at Review Cultist. And I'm always on Twitter. Terminally on Twitter. I'm also on Blue Sky.

[00:55:26] So you can send me messages there. And you can also send us emails. At al dente rigamortis. At gmail.com. That's. A-L-D-E-N-T-E-R-I-G-A-M-O-R-T-I-S. At gmail.com. Where you can also leave us suggestions. For other creepastas. SCPs. Spooky things. You creep it. We'll peep it. Yeah. And if you'd like to help support our show financially. Go to Patreon. Select the backer tier you'd like to support us at. We have special episodes. Early access and extra content. To all our patrons.

[00:55:55] Helping support the show. Thank you immensely. You're helping keep those hosting bills at bay. And as always. We very much appreciate that. And to our listeners. And the authors of these stories. Thank you immensely. Because without your listenership. It would be like screaming into the void. And. Without your authorship. Without these stories that you create. And post online. For people to enjoy and read. We really wouldn't have much of a show. Because we have nothing to talk about. So thank you. Until next time. I have been your host. Review Cultist. I'm Mikey. The East Time Shave.

[00:56:25] And I'm the Gamer in Yellow. And this has been. Al dente Rigamortis. Sleep well.