ADR - Episode 650: Rapacious

[00:00:17] Hello and welcome to Al Dente Rigamortis. I'm Review Cultist. I'm Mikey, the East Times for Evil. And 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... Rapacious. So yeah, we are covering another Tawawi tale.

[00:00:43] This one is kind of connected to the previous one we just did, Halloween, in that it takes place in the same town as Halloween. The town of Ailswell from Oblivion. Yes, thank you. Thank you for acknowledging that. Apparently Northern Ontario is Oblivion. God. Yes. Joking aside, it's not actually from Oblivion. No, no, it's just a name of a town made up by Tawaii for his stories. That happens to also be in Oblivion.

[00:01:12] Yes, that happens to also be the name of a town in Oblivion. Because the Gamer in Yellow is the Gamer in Yellow for a reason. Yes. That's the reason. That's it, yeah. You got it. Anyway. And yeah, so you can check out Rapacious along with all of the other Tawaii Creepypastas on Creepypasta Wiki, which is creeppasta.fandom.com slash wiki.

[00:01:42] And yeah, let's give our initial recommendations for this story. I'm going to recommend it. I'm not going to recommend it. I'll recommend it. I'm curious as to why Mikey will not. I have a feeling that tonight's going to be a good night. Okay. I got a feeling that tonight's going to be a good night. That was what I was going at.

[00:02:11] I got it. It just wasn't funny. Understandable. That's not going to stop me. Yeah, that's fair. But yeah, I have a feeling. I know why Mikey doesn't or Mikey is giving this a non-recommendation, but we'll find out if those feelings are true. But we're never going to get there until we, you know, push through and move on to the rundown for this creeppasta.

[00:02:42] I should also point out, like, I feel like we should be doing this at the beginning of these episodes. Before we start the rundown, if you would like to read the story, go check it out first and then come back. We'll wait. Welcome back. Yeah. I just feel like we don't do that enough. And like, obviously it was, it's just sort of assumed that like people are either going to listen to us after they read the creeppasta, or maybe they just want to listen to us before they, they get into it.

[00:03:08] Even after we give the initial recommendation, but, um, regardless the rundown for rapacious. So Eva and Wendy were very close sisters growing up with the dad. Is it Eva or Eva? Tomato, tomato. Like I, I, I, I, it, it could be E or A. She's not a giant mech though.

[00:03:32] Yeah, but it's, it's, that is also said, actually that's pronounced Eva as in like EVA. Oh, fuck. You're right. By the way, Eva is just short for even Gellion in that anime. Okay. Fuck. I just, I thought myself, but yeah, no, I was, I've heard, I've heard, I've heard it pronounced Eva or Ava. So I think it's just like, again, tomato, tomato. Hmm. Fair.

[00:04:02] Gamer. It's the same spelling in the teleprompter. Anyway, uh, moving on. So yes, Eva and Wendy were very close sisters growing up with their dad talking with their dad, taking them on monthly camping trips in the woods near their northern Ontario, small town of Ailswell.

[00:04:25] Their dad was also the mayor, but had a lot of time to spend with the girls and work other jobs, leaving the small town runnings to the local council. That all changed when Eva moved south to the big city for college and Wendy stayed to take up the mantle of mayor, walking in her father's footsteps, but with loftier plans for the town. About four years later, Eva here. Yeah.

[00:04:52] About four years later, Eva hears from her mother, the dad went missing in the woods a month prior and immediately travels to Ailswell to get answers. It's upon arrival that she finds a town she barely recognizes. It seems her sister has been busy building up and expanding Ailswell with the help of some larger companies.

[00:05:18] When she meets her sister at town hall, Wendy is found to be cold and distant, miser-esque even. Not the bubbly, empathetic sister Eva remembers. Eva visits her mom to get more answers on dad's disappearance and is furious to hear that Wendy called off the search as it was a waste of money and time.

[00:05:42] After lashing out at her sister about this, she was getting ready to head out into the woods to find her dad herself when Wendy arrives to reluctantly help. Mom also calls a friend who is a retired park ranger to help them. His name is Parker. Because of course. Yes. Hmm. It's also revealed that dad isn't the only missing person lately in them woods. Locals have been starting to tell old stories of something lurking out there.

[00:06:12] Regardless, Eva, Wendy and Parker head out and begin their investigation at dad's campsite, his last known location. They find his ID, strangely enough, and continue searching. But it gets dark and they set up their own camp for the night. It's in the evening. Parker is attacked by something and goes missing. Quite messily based on all the blood. Wendy is in a state of panic and Eva keeps her in line as they stay put till morning.

[00:06:43] They try to head back to town, but get lost all day and eventually find a cave and a clearing. They stay there for the night and it's revealed here in the dark of pre-dawn that Wendy is acting even more unusual. And then the other people are fighting for their kids, claiming to be oh-so-very-hungry, eating all of their jerky rations, and then knocking Eva out. Eva comes too to find Wendy chowing down on the corpse of Parker.

[00:07:10] and Eva flees into the woods where she encounters a much larger and antler-skulled fiend. As he grabs for Eva, the cannibalistic Wendy tackles him and in a harrowing state, Eva lunges at him as well just as Wendy is losing the fight. Eva cuts his head off with a knife and the Wendy creature takes the antlered skull and puts it on her own head. As they look at each other, Eva starts

[00:07:39] getting hungry too. Finn. So yeah, that was the story of Rapacious. And I suppose we'll move on to everyone tolerates the grammar inquisitions at this point. And I've got, I've got a couple, got a few. Most of them are going to become tense talks. So I'm just going to brush that over right now. Welcome to my tense talks. So I'll start with this one here. I have no

[00:08:09] idea what time it was, but I knew it was night. It was almost pitch black. So I feel like it should be, I had no idea what time it was because for some reason it goes right from like present to then past tense. So, um, and then the next one, Wendy, what have you done? The world, Wendy, what have you done? The world moved in slow motion. It felt like I was seeing everything

[00:08:38] through a tunnel hundreds of meters away. Oh, oh, there's supposed to be a, oh, end quote in there. Um, after what have you done? And there isn't. Yeah. So it's like, Wendy, what have you done? End quote. The world moved in slow motion. And then that's more of the description of what's happening to her. Now she's not describing what's happening to her. I'm surprised I missed that one. I, yeah, I literally, when I, how I tried to like perform

[00:09:06] it in, in my reading, it was exactly how it was like, Wendy, what have you done? The world moved in slow. Oh, this is supposed to be not. Hang on. Um, but I'll move on to my last one here. I could heard Wendy yelling from the cave at first. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but then I heard it. So the first heard should actually be a here. So it's like

[00:09:31] I could hear Wendy yelling from the cave. Yes. Uh, and that is my grammar inquisition. Mikey, these stands for evil. I passed the torch to you. I'm shocked. I didn't see like any of the, either of those, like the whole quotation thing or the, I could heard the thing. Like, I guess that's why you like when you get something edited, you give it to multiple people because

[00:09:54] people see different things, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, I have a conjunction junction. Of course you do. And next stop conjunction junction. It's what drove a wedge between my sister and I and what eventually ruined my hometown. It all started when she decided to get into

[00:10:18] politics. It wasn't that we needed the money. He was simply the sort to always keep busy. It had been over four years since I'd been home far too long. It didn't go over well with the council. It felt to me that they had almost sprouted up overnight.

[00:10:45] The council? The council like didn't like that she was away for a long time either. She's very influential there. This is getting like, quick aside, this is getting very close, like connective tissues right now. Like there's an RPG, a tabletop RPG I want to run at some point where like this kind of shenanigans, like, like us taking this like silly could be like the reality of the town that you can play that you can build in the in this RPG. What do you mean? So it's that world. So

[00:11:13] table talk is actually canon. No, I mean like in terms of like the town, like the town council sprouting up out of the ground and like, and like being like some eldritch horror. I see. Yeah. But I digress. It felt like I was in a different town. It was a lot to take in. It seemed smaller than I remembered. It's a waste of time and resources at this point.

[00:11:40] It was a cool September morning when we set out to the site of my dad's abandoned camp. It wasn't the best lead, but Parker was right. It could be something. It wasn't nearly late enough in the season to see frost forming, but the familiar crunch of ice-tipped leaves underfoot proved otherwise.

[00:12:09] It was later in the afternoon at this point. Odds were bad that we'd make it home tonight. But the sun, it looked like a person. The sun looked like a person? But the sun, it looked like a person. That is horrifying. I'm not gonna lie. There's like a face in the sun. Yeah.

[00:12:35] Oh god, it's the baby from her fucking Teletubbies. Oh wow. Yeah, I... I was like, what the hell are you talking... Oh... Oh, that's amazing. Sorry, continue. Alright. It looked like a person, but was tall and contorted. It had antlers. Oh no. It...

[00:13:01] This is becoming even more eldritch as it goes. I like this. I really do. This is very... This is very Absurdia, that tabletop RPG. Like... Oh man. Continue. Sorry. It didn't look like anything had been living here, which was a small relief. It was my dad's knife.

[00:13:27] But then the smell began again, subtly. It wanted me to know it was there. It wanted me to be afraid. It was Wendy. Her once proud frame distorted and contorted into a disfigured shape. Oh no, her sister's becoming the son. Or has Wendy become the knife? Yeah, I think it's the knife.

[00:13:56] Oh my god, that was like... That was a trip. Oh god. You kind of view the story differently when you... Recite all the sentences that start with words that they probably shouldn't, like its ends or buts. Basically to highlight that there's better words to use. But it breaks up and makes it completely out of context and kind of hilarious sometimes. Yeah, like this is... Dare I say, this is... It came at full force. It was a squirrel level of like... Perfect. It's all the origin of all this. Yes.

[00:14:27] Also, it should be said like... Not as many as you'd think for the length of the story. Mm-hmm. So... But yeah, definitely some gold there with... The antlered sun god. A little bit, yeah. The eldritch antlered sun god coming out. Of the... To the town. Oh god. Yeah, again, this is some creative... Some connective tissues time. I've been listening to a game of Absurdia.

[00:14:55] And like, this kind of stuff, like, honestly, like... Fell so well in line with that... Both that actual play podcast and the tabletop RPG. Of the same name. So... Yeah. My god. Um... But that's it, Mikey? Yep. All right. Gamer, do we have a... Do we have any grammar in yellow? Yeah, I got a few. First one is...

[00:15:23] She would regale me with Tales of How... And then it jumps down a line. Wendy is remaking it as well. One project at a time. She had a habit of making... It seemed like it would... Be a whole new place by the time I decided to visit. So that tab down into the new paragraph isn't needed. Because that quote is a continuation of that first bit. Yeah. It should be... She would regale me of Tales of How... Wendy is remaking Aswell. One project at a time. Quote, unquote. Like, that's...

[00:15:53] That is the sentence. But it's broken up here for some reason? Just like that one bit taken out? Yeah, I think it's because like... The story is following the rules of like... Again, you... Any kind of dialogue goes down... Like, becomes its own line. It's not dialogue. Well, yeah, you're right. You know, it isn't. But it feels like it should be. But it isn't. It's an example of what... Of what Wendy's doing. It's air quotes. Yeah, it's air quotes. Like, basically, like... This is what... Kind of, like... Sort of verbatim what Mom was saying rather than paraphrasing.

[00:16:23] Yeah. So... But yeah, I agree with you. It should definitely be in the same line as Howe because that is jarring as hell. Yeah, because otherwise it's like... She would regale me with tales of Howe. What are tales of Howe? You know? Yeah. Well, Howie Mandel or Gordie Howe. Yeah. Hey, he's got a bridge that connects... Windsor to Detroit right now. So Gordie Howe. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[00:16:54] But... Oh, by the way. Yeah. Um... Just because, like, the amount of time we've said Ailswell throughout all this and the way that my dumb brain works is, like... I feel like one of these, uh... stories should be called All's Well in Ailswell. I knew exactly where you were going. Did you? You knew it really? Seconds. Like, because I had the same thoughts. Oh, Ailswell. That's well. Yeah. And as soon as you started, like, talking even further, I was like, oh, fuck. Like, he's gonna say it. Yeah. Hell yeah, man. Absolutely. Like, yeah.

[00:17:22] Like, honestly, 100%. Tawai, if you're listening... First off, thank you for your listenership. But also, um... Like, we've given you gold for a title. Like, Ailswell that Endswell. Like, that... Like, the... Like, a story about, like, the town crumbling to, like... Like, the town's end. Or, like, meeting its end would be amazing. Oh, it's so good. Yes. Goddamn. That... Yeah.

[00:17:53] Good job, gamer. I did it! Do I get an edge? Uh, no. We don't do edge in this system. Damn! We're running Anarchy 2.0. Sorry, Mikey. Oh, yeah. That is Shadowrun. Sorry. Moving on. Uh, this next one, I feel like it needs reference to who's actually talking in this line. Uh... We ought to set up camp for the night. Get back out here. Get back out there bright and early.

[00:18:23] Um... Wait, who actually said that? I should write that. Uh... I'm assuming that's Ava. Ava, Ava, whatever. No. Wait. No, that was Parker. That said that. I think. Yes. Okay. So, uh... So, Parker says, we ought to set up camp for the night. Get back out there bright and early. Uh... We can still go on for a while, can't we? I asked Parker. Not, uh...

[00:18:52] Willing to give up the search for the night. Not a great plan. We know people have been going missing. And wandering out here in the dark is hardly brilliant. You may want to risk your life on a foolhardy errand. But I value mine. Wendy sneered. So, personally, I feel like the mention at the very end of it being Wendy shocked me. Because, like, she asked Parker a question. Then there's this huge sentence that Wendy said at the end.

[00:19:20] I read that whole line as if Parker was saying it. Yeah, like, maybe if... Maybe... And maybe you're about to say the same thing I'm about to say. I am about to say this exact thing. Then you continue. Then you continue. Uh... Yeah. So, like, something like... The first part where it says, not a great plan. It could be, not a great plan. Wendy sneered. We know people have gone missing. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Absolutely. Because that immediately puts it in your head. Oh, this is the person who's talking. Not the person who you would have expected to talk. Yeah. No, for sure.

[00:19:50] Because I also thought, like, that was Parker until... At the very end, it says Wendy sneered. It's like, oh. All right. Yes. Yeah. And then my last one is an unnecessary comma, in my opinion. Because it actually, like, changes the whole vibe of the sentence a little bit. Both of us were hardly able to keep it together. After what happened to Parker, but neither of us wanted to be the one to break down first. So, I feel like the first comma doesn't need to be there.

[00:20:20] Because it changes the pacing and the focus of what happened to Parker. To make it sound like it's referencing what's about to follow the comma. But it's meant to put emphasis on the first part. So, it should sound more like both of us were hardly able to keep it together after what happened to Parker. But neither of us wanted to be the one to break down first. No, yeah. For sure. Yep. And that's about it. All right. Well, then I suppose we'll move on to actual thoughts. I'm going to start with the title.

[00:20:50] Rapacious. Rapacious. So, rapacious is an adjective. And it can mean excessively greedy. So, wanting far more money, power, and possessions than you need or deserve. It could also mean predatory or living on prey. Relates to animals or creatures that survive by hunting and seizing live prey. So, I learned a new word today.

[00:21:15] And one that's very thematic and appropriate to the story as a title. Yeah, for sure. Like, both aspects of it. Yeah. So, yeah. That was very... Like, again, I'd never really heard of the word rapacious. And I was like, I've added a new one to my lexicon. So... Mm-hmm. But I'll move on to the next thing I have. Actually, the actual story. I was going to be near the city. About four hours south of our town.

[00:21:45] Closer to the American border. The biggest city in the country definitely held its awe for me. Who had never been to a town that had more than one movie theater. And even that was exotic to me. So... Huh. Is Toronto really the largest city in Canada? Which, I'm guessing it's Toronto. Because... That's a big city. Like, south of... Like, in southern Ontario and some of that. Closer to the border, yes. And update. Yep. Guess I never really thought about it.

[00:22:15] But, yeah. I guess it makes sense that Toronto would be the largest city in Canada. Like, population-wise. Also interesting to get a gauge of roughly where Ailswell is in Ontario. So, like, we know now it's, like, four hours north of Toronto. Yep. And that would put it, actually, just north of the Muskoka region. So, somewhere between, like, Sudbury or North Bay. Mm-hmm. And if anybody wants to... Just Google map, like, where those are. And you can kind of get a sense of where, like, that region. And just how rural and forest.

[00:22:45] And, like, how wild that area is. And, like, why it's... Why the area just south of it is dubbed Cottage Country. Yes. So... But, yeah. I thought that was cool. Again, my brain to, like... My brain's urge to search, like, to, like, look for, like, a real place. Or to, like, scope out a location geographically. Like, was on fire here. Yes. But I'll move on to the next thing here. The bus didn't... Sorry, one more thing. Yeah.

[00:23:13] I also like that it said it was four hours north, not X amount of kilometers. Oh, yeah. That's just a Canadianism. Yeah, very Canadian thing. Where, like, we give directions in terms of time. Not space. Yeah, distance is time, actually. Yes, exactly. It's like, oh, how long does it take you to get to the general store? Oh, about, like, two minutes. I was like, how far is your friend? Oh, it's about, like, a minute. Like, from my house. Like, by car.

[00:23:43] It's about five minutes by walk. Yeah. Maybe ten minutes. Ten minutes, yeah. Yeah, probably about closer to ten minutes if you're speed walking. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. But, yeah. Um, I'll move on to the next thing I have here. The bus didn't stop outside the gas station as we went by. I got up in a hurry and told the bus driver that I needed to get off here. We pull inside the Ailswell Greyhound Station now, miss, he said curtly.

[00:24:13] I sat down, scratching my head. I don't remember any Greyhound Station. Things really have changed, I muttered aloud. I was like, wow, this is strangely poignant. For our current, like, our area currently in real life. Like, connective tissues time again. There is a fair amount of change happening in our quaint section of cottage country.

[00:24:38] And while it's certainly making some sense, like, given, like, population growth and what have you, there is definitely some pushback by locals that are, like, want the quieter, older times. Um, so, it's interesting to see that this, in this story, uh, there is, like, a level of familiarity.

[00:25:00] Um, and honestly, I think it's, it's something that a lot of people can latch onto in life with, if they live somewhere small and rural and the march of industry arrives. So, yeah, like, that almost, like, uh, this, like, sort of, like, sense of nostalgia, like, being, like, eroded or lost by, by, like, new buildings and new, new, new expansion happening in, like, their small area.

[00:25:26] Um, and kind of on the same level, there's another quote I have here, uh, that happens, like, right afterward. Um, so after she gets off the bus, she, like, sees the town for what it is now. Um, I wandered around this new alien version of Aleswell, still clutching my baggage for about an hour. I couldn't believe how much had changed. When I left, there were no buildings over three stories. Now there are proposals for condos.

[00:25:52] The park where Wendy and I would play every weekend was now a parking lot. It was a lot to take in. So, this too, at least to me, is very real and commonly shared in terms of, as a situation, I feel. Um, like, if you ever left somewhere that you lived for a long time and you return sometime later and you find it altered by progress and modern change,

[00:26:18] it can be really jarring and you can feel a sense of loss for, like, the good old days or, like, the town that you grew up in. And then, like, suddenly you come back and the town is much bigger and much more built up. Um, so, like, this story actually kind of, like, like, at this point in the story, I was kind of, like, left with some, like, some feelings of melancholy.

[00:26:37] Because it's, like, I have had those experiences where, like, I've gone somewhere or, like, I know that there's a place that, like, from my childhood that is gone because it's been, like, bulldozed over and built up by, with something new. Yeah. Um, yeah. So, I feel like that, like, it's a very, like, grounding, uh, element in the story that I really kind of like. Like, it's, there's almost, like, it's not, like, horror necessarily, but there's, like, a tragedy. Kind of, uh, for, uh, the tragedy of small towns growing.

[00:27:07] And obviously you want a town to grow because, like, if it doesn't grow, it stagnates and then it dies. And then you get ghost towns. But, um, yeah, there's definitely, like, uh, uh. I don't know. It feels like the story's kind of tapping into, like, for me personally, like, a real world, like, a real sense of, like, uh, something that I've, I've kind of come to grips with over the years. I've gotten older, so. But. I'll move on from my melancholy and, uh, move on to the rest of the story.

[00:27:36] Uh, and now for something a little lighter. I need an appointment to see my sister now. She stared at me, or rather, threw me, for what felt like an eternity. Welcome back to Ailswell, Eva. Her appeasing tone didn't, did little to ease my, did little to ease the tension. What has, what has happened since I've gone? How could she be so callous?

[00:28:01] So, first off, I, this is another one where it's, like, it should be what had happened to, or since I, since I've been gone. Because, or since I've been gone because of the, uh, tension, or the, uh, the, uh, um, tense talk. But, but, furthermore, with, like, the whole thing of, like, when, when, this whole, like, this whole dialogue, uh, between, like, Wendy and Eva, um, by the end of it, I was just like, she's been Scrooged! Quick!

[00:28:28] I know it's a little early for, uh, but, but bring in some ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future here! Stat! Because, at this point, it felt like, um, Wendy had suddenly become, like, the, the miserring, sort of, like, Scrooge character, like, for this town. Yeah, pretty much, yeah. Um, yeah, so, and then I'll move on to the next thing, which is also similarly, like, playing on Wendy's, like, new behavior, it seems.

[00:28:56] The inspector said they had found the site where he had made camp. Plenty of his gear was left behind. They don't expect anything serious. Maybe he had a fight with his wife. I can only imagine how, how it must have sounded downstairs when my jaw hit the floor. So, in this, in this regard, like, this is, um, like, the first part is Wendy talking about, like, how, like, the, the search was going for, for her, for their dad.

[00:29:24] And then, like, her obviously saying something, like, like, must have had a, had a fight with his wife. Like, this weirdly detached description of their parents. And, and then, like, Eva kind of, like, coming to grips with that, or, like, her reacting to that the way she does. Like, her, like, where she's just, like, shocked by the change in her sister. And to me, I was just like, oh, this is not your sister. That is such a weirdly disconnected thing to say about your own parents.

[00:29:54] Oh, that's the way you saw it? Yeah. That's the way I saw it. Yeah. It was, it felt very disconnected and, like, almost, like, detached. Um, an update. Um, I was like, I was sort of right in, in the right direction with this a little bit. Like, there's definitely something had changed in the sister, like, dramatically. Um, and not just, like, a mundane change. There had definitely been some kind of supernatural change. I don't know where your proof is of that. What do you mean? What do you mean?

[00:30:24] What do I mean? She changed when she went out into the forest with Ava. When, like, the, the spooky thing stared at her and, like. Oh, you think that, that's when it changed? I honestly thought it was, like, that she had been changing over time. Like, and, like, that was just the catalyst for her, like, ultimate change. I don't think so, because if that was the case, the very end, Ava wouldn't be like, I'm hungry. Because she changed just as quick.

[00:30:53] Well, I do have something later on, I touch on, that does kind of extrapolate on, on her, on her, on her, like, when, when, uh, when Ava returns and finds Wendy, like, so cold and calculating and disconnected. Or, or detached from, from things. That kind of makes a little bit more sense in terms of, like, her transformation. I basically saw it, like, her detachment and stuff is just basically power corrupts. Well, yeah, of course. That's what that is. Yeah. And maybe that, maybe that is it.

[00:31:22] Like, maybe, but, like. Okay, so I'll just say it now. Um, so in some folklore regarding Wendigos, um, there is, it isn't always just about, like, oh, like, somebody who, who, who performs cannibalism becomes a Wendigo. There are other, um, markers or other, like, uh, attributes that can, like, either coin somebody as, oh, like, they are a Wendigo or that they are going to become a Wendigo.

[00:31:47] If, uh, and that's, uh, regarding greed and putting yourself first over, like, others or, like, or, or, or demolishing or, like, kind of, um, the, the, uh, sort of, like, the building of, of, like, civilization or, like, the, the, the, sort of, like, destruction of nature. Um, uh, the, the, the, the, the, like, choosing, choosing to build, to build over nature rather than, like, live with nature is another, uh, quality that could, like, attribute to the curse of the Wendigo.

[00:32:18] So, to me, this was starting to kind of feel like, oh, like, Wendy is sort of giving in to those sort of, like, attributes that can also cause Wendigo, um, the, the Wendigo curse. Other than just being hungry and, like, and wanting to eat the flesh of man. Hmm. But. I, I guess. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. It, it did definitely, I don't know, like, it, like, obviously, like, it could also just be as mundane.

[00:32:44] Like, like, this early stuff could all just be mundane of her just, like, having lofty goals to build up the town and then just becoming more and more, like, kind of business-like and cold as a result. Um, again, like, the Scrooge situation, because, like, the, the Scrooge, uh, narrative is also kind of poignant here. Because Scrooge was a, was a, uh, was a good charitable man. But, like, the more he, he fell into, like, the, the, um, the role of, like, this capitalist, like, businessman, the more cold and calculating and more detached from other people that he became.

[00:33:14] Yeah. And that's just a mundane thing. Like, that's just, like, that's just, like, the, the, sort of the, the nature of the businessman kind of corrupting a good person or an empathetic person. So, yeah. But. Because their father didn't really care too much about all the business and expansion and stuff. So he didn't get corrupted by it. But she did. She wanted to make the place better. Yeah. So as soon as she got the power, it just went through her head. That's the way I saw it anyways. But that's. No, no. No. And that's definitely, like, an option, honestly, in this.

[00:33:44] Like, I was definitely getting either, like, I was kind of getting a mix of, like, again, the old, like, because I, I've read up on, like, Wendigo folklore and stuff like that. Because it's an interesting, like, mythos. And it's also, like, kind of grounded in our, where we live. Like, it's one of our big, like, indigenous monsters or indigenous creatures. Plus, making her out to be, like, the villain and stuff like that. I figured, like, she's, she's going to be either the one that's killed or the one that's redeemed by the end of this. Yeah.

[00:34:13] And, like, as soon as, like, I don't know. Like, yeah, yeah. It can do, sorry. As soon as she, as it was like, okay, no. Yeah, Wendy's going to go. Wendy's going to go. Yeah. I. Go to the forest. Wendy go. Wendy go. Yeah. I was, like, almost, I was, like, man, is this family, is this family's last name go, as in, like, Van Gogh?

[00:34:38] Like, and it's, like, because that's a little, like, okay, there's, there's a moment in the story when, like, it really, really hit, kicked me or kicked in. Because we kind of knew that the story might have to do with Wendigos ahead of time. Like, or at least I did, like, from the, from the previous story. Because when I looked it up about, when I looked up Aleswell, I kind of got the sense that this is probably going to talk about Wendigos again. Mm. Um, but, um, there's a moment in the story where I was, like, where I went, like, where, hang on, where is it? Yeah, here it is.

[00:35:08] Um, yeah, when she's, like, eating all the jerky and then she's, like, I'm hungry now, uh, Wendy sternly insisted. Like, there's a part where, like, in the cave, in the clearing, and I was, like, oh, Wendy's a Wendigo. Or becoming something similar to that, isn't she? And I was, like, I had a sneaking suspicion early on in the story, like, especially with her name being Wendy, because that's legitimately something I've, that kind of wordplay I've played with in some previous, like, tabletop games on When Let's Die. Yeah.

[00:35:36] Um, with, like, with a, with a Wendigo thing. Um, but also, yeah, like I said. Yeah. Because of, uh, you know, Parker the Park Ranger. Um, well, there's also, yeah, there's also, yeah, Parker the Park Ranger. A little, hang on, where's my note for that? I do have a note for that. Yeah, yeah, hang on, where is it? We're just going back and forth around my notes here, but that's whatever.

[00:36:00] Um, yeah, it's like, after a brief debate on whether or not she was, she should go alone, Mom and Wendy won out. And we called Mom's friend, Parker, who's a retired Park Ranger. I was like, wow, that guy really knew what he wanted to be in life. Like, he just really committed to that name. He's just really committed to that, to his name, to his namesake. Yeah. Parker the Park Ranger. Oh my God. I mean, wouldn't you as well? No, absolutely. Honestly. Mm-hmm.

[00:36:29] But yeah, it's just like, just like Eva is an, is a mech pilot. Yeah, of course. Get in the, get in the Eva, get in, get in the mech unit, Eva. Otherwise, Wendy will have you. Otherwise, Wendy has to. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, but yeah, no, like the, the whole Wendy go thing was like, really, I like a bit, like, I knew it was coming really early on, but because especially like, oh, like is Wendy,

[00:36:58] it's like, oh, that's kind of like, if this story doesn't play with that. And sure enough, the story kind of plays with that. I was like, ah, I see what you're doing here. That's, that's very fun. I like that. Um. Yeah. I didn't see it early. I saw it late, but I appreciated it regardless. Yeah. Well, I think also, again, like I was saying, like part of it is like, I know a little bit more about like the Wendigo folklore and like the, about like the whole greed and, and coldness aspect. So like, I was like, either those are triggers or signs of the Wendigo curse. So yeah, it's not always about the hunger.

[00:37:28] It's, it's often about like, it's, it's also more about like greed and corruption in, in like that sense as well. So like making your, like great gathering power for yourself rather than helping others is also like a sign or a trigger for Wendigo curse. So. So Goku's going to be a Wendigo? No, it's more like, like greedy billionaires or like capitalist, like pigs are Batman's going to be. No, because Batman, that's the problem. No, he, he's a billionaire.

[00:37:58] Actually, that's the, yeah, he's a billionaire, but he's, he's using his, his money to help people and stuff like that. That's true. That's true. So yeah, like it's, it's people that like, it's more like, um, uh, what's the guy from little orphan Annie, like the millionaire from that? Like if, if, if, uh, Danny Warbucks didn't have Annie, um, and, and he went off into the, into the Northern, into the North American woods, there's a good chance he would, he'd become a Wendigo or like, or like he'd, he'd, he'd, he'd be more susceptible to the

[00:38:27] Wendigo curse. But yeah. Uh, so where was I after all that jumping around? Uh, oh yeah. Yeah. The disconnectedness of the sister and stuff like that. Um, okay. So moving on to the next thing here. Um, yeah, there's, there's even like a part where like, um, uh, where, when, when Eva finds out that Wendy cut, like, uh, stopped the, uh, the search party, um, because it was a waste of time and money.

[00:38:55] And then she goes and confronts Wendy about, about all that. And like, it's like, well, you're like, like, this is ridiculous. Like, I'm going to go find dad myself. Um, not everyone's as careless as you. And then there's a, like a line where it's like, for the first time since I arrived in town, she looked distraught. She clasped her hands together, elbows on her desks and pressed her mouth against her knuckles as if preparing her rebuttal. And then it goes on, like, basically like Eva didn't even give it the time of day.

[00:39:23] Also that whole thing of like holding her hands, like to the mouth and stuff like that. And like with her elbows on her desk, very much like Shinji's dad always does in Eva get Evangelion. So it's like, now I'm just seeing, I'm suddenly just seeing more connections to Evangelion in this. Um, but, uh, with this, this reaction though, that she has, like, she's like almost like she feels distraught and like, she's about to like do a rebuttal. I, I, it could just be that like, she's been, she's actually been like, some sense has been

[00:39:52] knocked into her by, by Wendy's action or by Wendy's like, uh, lashing out. Or the other thing that was kind of popping in my mind with this was like, oh, there's definitely something going on that Wendy's involved in. Like she probably killed her father or something out there and that like trying to cover it up and then update. Yeah. Update. Not exactly, but I'm getting warmer. Or would it actually be colder because Wendigos. I don't think she caused all this by the end of it.

[00:40:22] I, but I don't know. I don't think she caused, there's, there's another thing I have at the very end. I'll just kind of bring it up now. Is the big antlered Wendigo guy his, their dad? Uh, I mean, it could have been, I don't know. It's never said, but there's some subtext in this that like made me feel like there was, uh, like, that's what, what, what that guy was like was, was actually their dad, but it, it may or may not be the case. Yeah.

[00:40:50] Well, I feel like if it was their dad, they would have said or mentioned it looked like dad. Well, except that we never see the, well, the Wendigo has changed and like turned into this horrible, like, but, uh, they didn't remove the mask or whatever from them. Right. Yeah. But he's still like, he's still got like, I saw like deep eye sockets and so on. Yeah. And like, there's definitely like some obscuring of that character's face, but yeah, maybe, maybe a little too much if that's where it was trying to go.

[00:41:19] No, but Mikey's saying they removed the skull mask from the Wendigo's face. Yes. But even after that. So the exposed face would have been there. Okay. Hang on. Let me, let me pull this up because there's a, there's a line after the skull, the, the antlered skull part is removed that it's, uh, that made me think that it was like, they're even obscuring even after that. Um, sinking my fingers into its dark sunken eye sockets for leverage. I used my father's knife stabbing into the net.

[00:41:48] And that's actually after the, the, the, the, the, after the, the skull mask had come off. Yeah, I know. It may be, it might be there or before that. But well, cause he all off when it said until the stag skull fell back off the massive round head of the B I guess that's it. Yeah. Like it came off and then it went in for a bite on Wendy and then, and then, and then Eva attacked it like from the, from the, from the behind basically.

[00:42:17] Um, and used its sockets as leverage to climb up onto it, to cut it, to cut its neck off or to cut its head off. So regardless, if it was openly meant to be the father, I feel like while Wendy was consuming the body, there would have been a scene where like Ava, like looks at the face of the thing and can see like features that her father has or something like that. Yeah. Like honestly, like even if it's like, oh, like, oh, like it even had like the beard just like dad did or something. Yeah.

[00:42:47] I feel like if it's going to be like it to me, like there's some subtext in here that like, oh, that's, that's like what happened to dad, especially cause there's even a line that I think Wendy says when Eva runs out of the cave, it's like, he told me something. Um, hang on. It was, there was a line about, yeah, he told me I'd be hungry. I'd always be starving. He told me this was the way I still feel so hungry.

[00:43:13] So like whether or not that was like, she's referencing what her dad was telling her because like maybe he contracted the curse and as a result, she got the curse. Or that was that, like, that was the Wendigo thing, um, that she saw like the night before. Yeah. I don't know. Like I'm, I, maybe I like to do like a little bit more like, like, like read into the subtext and maybe that's just a problem though in this case, because it's a little too vague. I don't know. I don't know.

[00:43:42] All I know is she was staring into the forest, freaking out. And then when she gets brought back to the cave, she says that. So I assumed whatever she saw in the forest told her that she'd always be hungry. Yeah. That's, that's definitely a way to take the story. Um, I do feel like either, like you could, you could walk away from the story with either idea in mind and both are kind of valid because of just how vague the ending is with that.

[00:44:12] I don't think it's that big, but okay. Yeah. Okay. Fine. I'm the asshole. No, it just, as far as I read the story, I saw nothing about the father. Like the father could have just been consumed like Parker was. Cause there was no proof. There should be more. Well, I just feel like if there should be more evidence than at the end, by the end, like of like what happened to the father rather than just like, he just vanished and he's gone. Yeah.

[00:44:37] Like, I basically saw it as if this forest has a big ass when to go in it. That's killing people, killed their father, killed Parker. It tried to kill them, but they killed it. That's the way that I saw it. I basically read it at face value. Yeah. And I was looking a little bit deeper. Yes. So again, and again, both, both opinions or both, both thought processes are valid here. I feel because again, it's just because of how, like how the story is written.

[00:45:06] It could be interpreted several ways. Um, but all right, I'll move on to the next thing I have. Assuming I can find it. Okay. This part here. Okay. This is the, another note. So going back to like when they actually find the campground or the, or the, uh, the campsite where the dad was last seen, there probably ain't much to find that the authorities haven't already. Parker barked from the trail, not having bothered entering the site. I knew it made sense, but there could be something that we may notice something that

[00:45:36] people who didn't know him wouldn't think twice about. I found, I got something. Wendy yelled out underneath what was underneath what was left of his lopsided collapsed tent pad. She found his ID. And to this, I was just like, wait, why is there a part of the tent still out there after a month of him being missing? Like I actually looked this up and like authorities definitely would have cleared the site within

[00:46:05] a couple of days because like, like if you're thinking of like, oh, like they left it out there. So like, it doesn't contaminate the crime scene, leaving it out there in the, in the wilderness for being exposed like that is going to corrupt that scene because of animals and such. Um, so it just felt like some negligence on the part of the, the, the, um, the search party. But then again, Wendy did also like shut down the search party early.

[00:46:35] So maybe that's the reason. Also, it has, it just had a further suspicion that like Wendy's like covering something up out here, not just like, oh, her dad's gone missing. Like, and like what her other excuses, but you say that, but if she was covering it up, she would yes, shut down the party quickly, but also clean the site very, very quickly to get rid of it. I don't know. Like, yeah, I don't know. Yeah. It's I'm going to agree to disagree. Cause like, I don't know. I don't, I don't know for like, it makes.

[00:47:04] She found the ID. Yeah. That's a, that actually had me paranoid at that point because it was like, okay, why is she like, like maybe she's putting it there and like trying to use it to like, oh, look, we found his ID, like some evidence. Maybe he was doing something he shouldn't be. Let's head back to town and get away from the woods kind of thing. But yeah, it is also make that, but that also doesn't hold much water because why would she bring up some evidence that she had, um, of his and like when that would also maybe

[00:47:33] be like, oh, like we found evidence of his let's keep going. And like, she clearly doesn't want to be out here in these woods. I don't know. There it's, it's a little weird to me. Like why the, why the campground was still there? Like why, why like equipment was still there. And then furthermore that she found this ID, like, I don't know, just, yeah, it's, it's a little muddied the, the tense scene, but. I think it's just one of the situations where like the writer isn't a police officer.

[00:47:59] So it doesn't necessarily know all of the correct procedures. One hundred percent. Yeah. Cause like they do clearly do research, but maybe like, yeah, absolutely. Do like the, maybe the, maybe this is just something they like glossed over. So yeah. Yeah. Or maybe it is supposed to be some kind of like a hint as to something being weird, fishy with, with Wendy, but it, it, it just comes off as kind of like there's incompetence here at foot here more than, than like, than suspicion of like, of a conspiracy.

[00:48:30] We're in Durplin County. We know, we know that. Oh God. People are to the point. Yeah. Um, is that, so apparently Durplin, uh, Durplin County is up in, uh, just North of Muskoka. Mm. Mm. Uh, but I'll move on to the next thing I have here. Um, let's see. Okay. So there's a part after like, uh, Eva runs out of the cave after like Wendy's chowned out on Parker's leg and such.

[00:48:59] And we get this line here, um, as she's running and this is between the cave, like her fleeing the cave and meeting the big, when the, the big antlered Wendigo creature. So I looked around seeing things shift and move behind every tree. There was something hiding, something watching in the pre-dawn light, a humanoid outline here, an outstretched arm there. I couldn't tell whether I was delusional or truly being stalked until I saw it.

[00:49:28] So this, this line kind of almost made me wonder if it was one big, if it was all, that was all one, like the big Wendigo kind of thing, just like stalking her. Or if it was a bunch of, of Wendigos, like the missing people had turned into a colony of Wendigos. Um, but the more, yeah, it's again, the story is like a double entendre kind of thing. It's like the story like says something that could be like one way, but then the next line

[00:49:55] kind of makes it seem like, Oh, like that was maybe like the, it was, it's just moving in uncannily, like, like, uh, un-inhumanly weirdly. Like it was like traveling from tree to tree so fast that like she thought there were multiples. Yeah. And realistically, if there were multiples, I doubt they would have just hung out and watched their bro get killed. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Um, yeah, they're definitely, there, there would, if that, if they were, that was the case, there was more of them.

[00:50:22] There should definitely have been like some description by the end. Like as, as Wendy's dawning the antler, uh, the antler mantle, um, that like there's like shadows in the, in the, in the, in the forest, like eyes in the forest, like watching her, like she's become like the new leader of them or whatever. But yeah, I think, I think it's, it's all one. I think, I think I'm leaning more now toward like one, but at the time I was like, Oh man, is there like a, like, is that what actually happened to the missing people? They didn't all just get eaten. Some of them became Wendigo.

[00:50:51] So there's like moles more than one thing out here, but no, I think it's, it's closer to just like this thing can move in humanly weird. Um, so the next thing here is actually the last bit of the story. So once she finished, and this is like, once she finished like beasting on the big headless

[00:51:16] Wendigo, um, she slowly erected herself, the stag skull in her hands. She delicately placed it over her own face, pressing it hard into her flesh. As the dark blood oozed down, she turned to me, she turned to me placid. Eva, she gargled. Wendy, I responded. I'm hungry. Huh? So are they now both under the curse? Yeah. Okay.

[00:51:46] That, that, that's what that basically kind of entails. Okay. Cause I was like, like, okay. And I'm, I don't know. Like I, again, this is like, I don't know. It's just like, I was wondering if maybe the, I'm hungry, the last I'm hungry was also just like, was Wendy speaking rather than Eva. But it honestly kind of felt like it was, it should have, it was, it was, uh, Wendy continuing, uh, her, her dialogue. So. Yeah. Cause it would have been another line down, right? If it was a switch. That's true. Yeah.

[00:52:15] Um, so like I'm a tad annoyed at this ending, but. Why? Hang on. Hang on. Let me speak my piece. So I was a tad annoyed initially by the ending, but I suppose that I can just be, it can just be assumed, uh, that word that either they dwell in the woods now they live here or at

[00:52:43] least Wendy does since it took up the antler mantle. Like Eva can maybe still like assume human form and go back into town. But Wendy is like, she's taking up the, the, the, the, the antlered mantle, like her father before him. Maybe. Uh, again, that's me reading into the subject. It's just like, uh, again, going back on the, like my feeling that like maybe the big Wendigo was actually the dad the whole time. But, um, yeah.

[00:53:11] Uh, also technically this, it could be a buddy whore. Like the monstrous Wendy did come to her sister's aid and like one at the very end, like to, to stop the, the big one from getting her. And, and now they're both cursed under the hunger. So like twinsies. Yeah. It's a buddy horror, but both of them are the horror. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And yeah, I personally don't think that, um, Ava is going back to town because like

[00:53:40] when he turned within a day after saying she's hungry from this curse. So they're both turning. Well, and that's the thing, like you're, you're still assuming like, and again, your opinion is fine. I'm still like, your opinion is that like, she, like she's, she just turned into the Wendigo in these last few days. My opinion is that she either was like suffering under the, the influence of the Wendigo curse, like while she was like still a human mayor in the town.

[00:54:09] Uh, and that's why she was so cold and calculating and like, and kind of detached from, from other, from her usual, original empathetic nature. Um, but again, that's, that's just like, I get my own opinion on is like whether like we're just going to diverge here. I think in terms of, in terms of our, our thought process on this. So, yep. But yeah. Um, regardless, like I was just like, yeah, no, like I guess now they just live out here in the woods.

[00:54:36] Like unless, unless Eva's isn't as bad and she just goes back into town and becomes the new mayor. I don't think so. I don't think so either. And honestly, I'm leaning more toward them both. It's just being in the woods now as monsters. So in this regard, but, uh, yeah. Um, that is, that's what I've got for my actual thoughts as scatterbrained as they kind of are with like, or like how mangled they are like, like the lit, like the, like the, like the appendages of an antler.

[00:55:06] Uh, I don't know what the metaphor was there. So, um, Mikey, Mikey save us from ourselves or save me from myself. Um, what are your, what are your actual thoughts? Oh, all right. Um, so now we've already gone over the fact that the campsite's still there, even though

[00:55:27] it wouldn't be, um, so my other main sort of issue with this is that the story for me seems to move too quickly. Okay. Um, cause, uh, we get the, um, yeah, the scenes, like it just seemed to go from scene to scene to scene.

[00:55:54] And a lot of time is passing. Yeah. Skimming past like the boring stuff. Yeah. But I mean, that that's an opportunity for there to be more like banter between the sisters and park ranger Parker. Um, yeah. Parker basically just showed up to take them to the site to be murdered. Yeah. He's a red shirt. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

[00:56:22] He was definitely, he was definitely wearing a red, a red shirt underneath a red plaid shirt, ironically enough. So it didn't save him from being devoured. Cause in some folklore in North America, red plaid, like, um, actually helps against like magics and supernatural things. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. I think it's mostly like an Appalachian sort of remedy or folklore, but yeah. Yeah.

[00:56:50] So the, um, and then, um, so, so they're camping and then the Parker dies and then they go to find the trail that they were just off of and it's gone. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:57:11] So for me, that's where the story switched and they basically entered another realm or whatever. Yeah, absolutely. Because so at that point onward, I don't care about time because time works differently. In a way, it's kind of like what happened in the Blair Witch Project where like they went out into the woods following a trail and stuff like that.

[00:57:39] And then, um, they tried getting back from where they, where they first found like the, the stick people and stuff like that. And they start trying to track, retrace their steps. And they, for some reason could not find their way back. And it was like sort of the, uh, there's sort of a theory behind that. It was like that, like basically they had entered a new version of the woods and like, that's why it was fucking them over. Or like why they couldn't find the right trail or they couldn't, uh, they felt like they were going in circles. So it's all the stillwood. Yeah. It's yes. It's still wood or the arboreal back rooms.

[00:58:12] Sorry, Mikey. Continue. Mikey. Uh, yeah. So, but like before that, like time, like I said, goes faster because it's going from point to point, like even the whole four years away from college and the towns built up a lot. Yeah. Like that doesn't really happen in Ontario.

[00:58:42] I mean, you're not wrong. Cause like, but like you're there, there's also like, there was an explanation that like, like some big companies had moved in and it started building. So there was basically like, you're it's yes. Or no. Like, yes, it doesn't happen here, but that's because they didn't have Wendy as the mayor

[00:59:06] because Wendy had so much like chutzpah about her or whatever to like get shit done that she's every day making calls, making deals, getting people out here. Like getting those big corporations out here and like passing through some proposals. Like, cause there was like mention of like a lot of proposals, but nothing like those big proposals are still there. But like, then there's like these several large builder, like larger buildings being built up in the, in the, in the, in the town and such.

[00:59:33] So I, I like, cause I, I do agree. Like some of the area there's based on some, some urban projects around us. Yes. It like four years is pretty quick for like an entire town to be built up. But at the same time, that is also a fair amount of time for a town to be built up as well. So yeah. If there was enough money and the only way it works is if the stuff was already in development

[01:00:01] when they left and when the dad was mayor, I don't know, man, because there's a lot of red tape in politics in Canada. You have your local mayors, you have the provincial government, you have the federal government all have land rights. Yeah. So to develop it, you have to make sure you've gone through all the studies that need to be

[01:00:29] done to make sure there's no endangered species that are roosting in that area. Um, you have to make sure that it's environmentally feasible. You're not just going over a swamp. Yeah. Although to counter that some, there's, I know of at least one development, like suburban development that is built on a swamp and it's actually causing problems for the locals, uh, for their basements.

[01:00:57] That's why, but also in the story, um, like, yes, she's making the town better. Was she actually expanding the outside borders of it or is she just making everything in the town better? I don't remember. She was expanding because it mentions that like the outskirts of town were much further out. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. There was now like much more like buildup, like, like homes probably being built or like subdivisions and such.

[01:01:24] Which again, subdivisions can be built in, in several, in at least like a year or two. Um, she went around with her dad's knife and just started threatening everyone until she got her way. Yeah. She just used her dad's knife to cut all that red tape. Yeah. Again, like, yeah, it's, it's perhaps a few more years on, uh, Eva's like delay home, like could have, could have been a little bit more, but like, again, this is, this is just

[01:01:50] a story, like the show, like how fast, uh, and how, how big, like the corruption is within this town suddenly. So I don't know, maybe it isn't exactly realistic, but it's, yeah, it's, it's a story that's like just showing like how big and how, how, how alien the town looks to somebody who hasn't been there for a while. So, so for you, Mikey, it would be better if it was a vague amount of time that she was away, not a specific amount of time.

[01:02:19] Um, yeah. Or, um, well, a longer period of time. Like if she said I was away for a number of years. Yeah. And just left it like that. Then you can be like, okay, well it's a number of years long enough that all this stuff could get done realistically while fast, but realistically. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Sometimes it's better to be vague with these sorts of things when like you don't know the

[01:02:47] ins and outs of every single little thing about it, you know? Yeah. But also like, I don't know. I, I do, I, I'm going to stop after this, but like, I do think that maybe you're underestimating just how much, how fast, uh, companies can, can build up a, an area, uh, even with all the red tape that like various different government, um, uh, departments throw at you with that for like the environment and such. And it is Ontario too.

[01:03:14] So like, I mean, we do have a bad, a bit of a, a bit of a record for like just abusing the environment, uh, and just letting corporations build. So we do, unfortunately. Like there's a, there's a currently, well, as of like a couple of, like, I think a year, like maybe a few years ago, um, people were fighting, um, our premier, uh, to, because he was planning on putting in some law legislation that let, uh, companies carte blanche over

[01:03:42] the, uh, the green, like the greenway, which is like this huge land, the huge area of a protected wilderness, um, across Ontario. And he was just going to put in legislation to just kind of like, uh, say you can build, uh, you can build, uh, developments on, on that. Like big companies can come in and just build developments on those. Yeah. So that was fought against. Yeah. Fortunately. Um, but like there's other, there's other projects that are still going through that are

[01:04:07] just ripping through like pastoral and, and wild land in our country, in our province. So like, yeah, that's what Wendy did. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, so apparently their, uh, their, her last name is. Wow. Oh, hopefully it's about, yeah. All right. Moving on. What we should do is just bleep that. Yeah. Yes. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm just going to bleep that. Yeah. There you go. It doesn't matter. Yeah. That's getting bleeped.

[01:04:36] Um, just for, so we don't, uh, get, get, uh, like I'm, I'm, I don't know. I don't care if we get too, uh, didn't get too many angry comments, but like when it comes to like stuff like politics, I'm. It's completely stay out of it. Yeah. I'll see all that stuff. That's one of my notes is like, basically, uh, my first note is I can remember when things started to go downhill for us. It all started when she decided to get into politics. I'm like, Oh God. Red flag. Red flag. Legitimately. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:05:06] Whoa. Yeah. I was like, there's a couple of things you never have conversations about religion and politics. And I was right at the start of the story. I'm like, I really hope that this is just a set dressing and not the focus, like the whole politics aspect of it. Then it was the focus. It's really not though. Well, it was kind, it was, it was like a signs or like, again, from my point of view, it was like signs of the symptoms of what was going on. But anyway, sorry. I'll, I'll shut up. Thank God.

[01:05:37] I kid. I kid. Please continue. Mikey. So yeah, that's all I got. Okay. Uh, gamer. I got a couple left, I think. Uh, so yeah. Uh, the whole mention of, I kind of chimed in with this a little bit in regards to like Wendy remaking out, uh, Al's well, Al's well, Al's well, Al's well. Yeah. Um, and then like she did that like because her father's gone. So like that immediately made me think that she kidnapped or killed her father and all that. Yeah.

[01:06:07] Um, but it didn't really happen probably. Um, I don't know. So I guess just in that time she just got elected mayor on her own. Like after her father like stepped down as mayor, like she took over, I guess. Yeah. I assume. Well, the, um, she had named clout. Yes. I was going to say. Yeah. Again, no, there's a reason I, I've been trying to like avoid saying names of places

[01:06:33] and people, um, because like, and just giving vague examples of Ontario like stuff, because there's definitely, I, I, there's definitely some examples that I'm aware of, of, of name clout happening in politics in our area. Yeah. But there's very much a, uh, local person got in because their father or whatever was the previous incumbent and retired. Yeah. I know exactly who you're talking about actually.

[01:07:04] So anyways, my next one, uh, again, this was briefly touched on in regards to when, uh, Wendy mentions like a fight with his wife and stuff. And she's like a fight with his wife. Are you kidding me? This is our dad. You know him, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, I'm surprised Ava wasn't like a fight with his wife. You mean mom? Yeah. No. Like, that's like, Oh, there's something wrong with like, there's something going on here.

[01:07:34] Yeah. Like the shock and confusion that Ava had was still great. Yeah. Um, and you can like, you can like feel it that she was like struggling to understand, like, ah, hi, who are you? Yeah. I really liked the tension, like, like the, the drama of the, of the, of their confrontations. Like, yes, it's just very, very, almost like very real. Absolutely.

[01:07:59] And then when, uh, Wendy shows up at their house and she's like, yeah, I'm going to go with you to help search for dad. And I was like, okay, I imagine at some point she's going to pull out a gun and just shoot them both dead. Just add them to the list of disappearances in the area to cover for it. I, I, going into the story, I kind of thought it might actually be like a fully mundane horror

[01:08:24] of her just shooting them and just throwing them in a, in an uncovered grave or an unmarked grave with their father. Yeah. Like if you removed the, the Wendigo aspect or like the, the sort of supernatural, like hunger aspect, um, this definitely has the, the option of being like, oh, she got in with the mob or something like that. Like she became the mob. I think. Yeah. Yeah. She, yeah. She either started her own, she started her own mafia, uh, in, in this little Ontario town,

[01:08:51] or she, she, she has, she's made connections with the already built in on like mafia or criminal elements of Ontario. And she's just a chapter there. That's why, oh, that's why all the, that's why all the big companies, all the big companies are construction companies. Makes sense. Which I, again, like not to play on stereotypes, but like a lot of construct, there's a lot of

[01:09:18] mafia, a lot of, a lot of criminal activity that uses, uh, construction companies and like construction projects as fronts. So. I guess. Sure. That's unfortunate. Yeah. And then, uh, regarding them waking up in like a different section of the woods. I like that. That's like adding another layer of fear on top of what they're already dealing with. Cause like at this point, something straight up killed Parker and drag his, dragged his body into the woods.

[01:09:44] Like, even if that was just a mundane, uh, beast of some kind, like a normal ass animal that just killed him silently somehow and took him away. That's still horrifying. But now they're also dealing with where the hell are we? Like, yeah, it just added another layer of the, the fear on top of what they're dealing with, which I really liked. Um, and it also made it so like, it's entirely possible that, uh, um, wait, hang on.

[01:10:13] Um, oh yeah. Uh, because they woke up in an area that's like, they don't know where they are anymore. It's entirely possible that at this point when I was reading, I guess even after it, cause we don't get confirmation that the dad wasn't just killed like Parker was. He could have just been teleported somewhere else and he's just lost in this wood somewhere. Like he could still be alive for all week.

[01:10:43] Um, also, um, it's a bit derpy that they leave their tents. They do say that it was foolish of them to do that, but it was really dumb. Cause like, well, I mean, okay. So they wake up. Yeah. They have no idea where they are. They can't find the trail back. And they're like, we need to get out of here. Let's get back to town. Screw the tents. We weren't that far away. They don't know where they're going.

[01:11:10] They actually, they could be walking further into the woods. They, they thought they knew where they were going because they had a compass that, and they know that they were going West. So they could just had to go East and they'd make it back to town. Well, okay. But that's some, that I, and I, and I do kind of agree with you because like, it is, it is done to bring this up, but they were also getting like, after they just witnessed somebody get like pull, bloodily pulled off into the woods that night.

[01:11:37] So like, they're a little like desperate and hysteric, hysterical. It is the next morning, but yeah. Um, yeah, I don't know. It was pretty dumb. Yeah. No, I, I do. I do partially agree. Yeah. Where they're going. Yeah. Cause yes, I understand the whole compass thing, but if they believe, which they say they are, they say that they believe that they woke up somewhere else, then sure. The compass reading might bring them in the right spot, but it might not.

[01:12:07] So for the extra two minutes it takes to pack up the tents, I would have done that. That's all I'm saying. Well, it's a shame they didn't have you gamer. Right. Yeah. Hindsight's always 2020. Well, you see the campsite still in our reality. It's once they leave the campsite that they leave the realities. That's why their dad's campsite was still there.

[01:12:36] Oh, the campsite's like a portal thing. Yeah. Or it's a safe, it's a, a safe haven. Kind of like, uh, the, uh, the safe houses in left for dead, the checkpoints. This could be like so mundane as well. Um, like you fall asleep at the campsite and there's like a cult that's watching this campsite. And when you sleep, when you fall asleep there, they sneak in there and then like gas the place to like, or inject you with something to make sure you stay asleep.

[01:13:03] And then they just pick you up and carry you out and put you into another campsite that they set up exactly the same somewhere else. That's a bit of a stretch, but okay. I can see it happening. Sure. I'm glad you agree. Um, but next one, I learned another word. I basically got the context based on the context. Um, the, the sort of Wendy began to languid, languidly raise, rise. Yeah.

[01:13:33] Languidly. Languidly. Yeah. Which is basically like slow and with little energy. Yeah. So I learned a word. Yeah. Nice. Uh, and then ending buddy horror. I mean, yeah. Yeah. It's okay. It's again. Cause like the, the, like she'd been so cold and like heartless kind of like seemingly heartless, like throughout the story. And then, but by the very end that even as she was turning into a monster, she came to her sister's aid in like an act of humanity or like an act of empathy for her sister and love for her sister.

[01:14:02] And even while she's a monster, Ava wanted to still help her as well. Yeah. Like she hears like, like, like, uh, was it don't stop run? Don't stop run. It was a don't, don't run. It was don't stop. Like she, she knew like she was turning into something or she couldn't control herself. Or, or maybe that she saw that there was something else in the woods. So like she was telling her sister to, to keep running. Yeah. That's a hundred percent what she said. Yeah.

[01:14:33] So yeah, like that was a little like nice, like a little redemption for, for the, uh, for, for Wendy at, by the end. So yes. And yeah, buddy horror. Now they're both monsters. Man, that mom just like, like, it's just like her, her, the luck of luck of the draw was not kind to her. Lost her husband. And now both of her, uh, both of her daughters are monsters that live in the woods for the bad decade for sure.

[01:15:03] Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, the, the one daughter, AKA Wendy only went because the mom was going to ride around with the will if she didn't. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So she would have survived if the mother didn't tell her to go. Yeah. Ooh, that's not going to sit well with mom. Yeah. And she lost her friend, uh, Parker too. Oh yeah. Ooh. Ooh. She asked to bring over.

[01:15:33] Ooh. Maybe this whole thing was just a plan to get rid of everybody so she could be married. Oh man. Probably not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is just a, turns out mom's on the, uh, on the city, on the town council. And so like, it's like, we need to get rid of your daughter. Like she's, she's making way too many changes that we do not like. Yeah. Just have them go into the woods. We'll take out the, we'll take out your, your, your, your husband first.

[01:16:04] Yeah. That's the mundane element. The, the cult that you were talking about earlier is actually just the council, the town council. Absolutely. And they're like, we need to get rid of this mayor, this mayoral, um, um, this mayoral station, um, and just, just, uh, have us run the town and like not pass any of these stupid, uh, uh, legislation to allow, uh, companies in here and like, like screw up our town. Totally. I think I have like these murder cults on the brain.

[01:16:34] Cause I recently watched like an old Markiplier video of him playing like, uh, what was it? Uh, feed the pit. Oh yeah. Yeah. Which is very much that exact thing. Yeah. Feed the pit. Also that. Yeah. Also that, uh, that one, um, uh, fears to fathom chapter. That's, uh, that we're the park ranger. Yes. Ironically enough. And like the cult that's in the woods. So yeah. Also I'm, I'm also going to get in, um, uh, hot fuzz vibes. Yes. Absolutely.

[01:17:04] Cause like the greater good, the greater good. Stop that. Yeah. At least with our headcanon version. Yeah, of course. Yeah. With, with this mundane five version of this, this plot. So I do like the unnecessarily complex idea of them, like kidnapping them and putting them in another campsite. Yeah. But yeah, that's the end of my notes. All right. And then they could even change it.

[01:17:33] So like, it's like, oh, they'll think that, but won't they know that they're in the wrong place because of the compass? Oh, we'll just, we'll just, uh, we'll rig the compass so that it points east. But really it's pointing north. Nice. Yeah. But yeah, anyway, so, um, on to final thoughts. Um, I, I, I'm still going to recommend it. Um, it has a lot, for me, it had a lot of buildup throughout and, uh, the interactions

[01:18:03] between the sisters was very dramatic and tense. And I really enjoyed it. Like, I was like, it's like, oh, I fucking hate, oh, like I hate this, this, this sister mayor. Like, uh, I was like, it was like, it was like, but in like, not in like a, like a annoying way, but like in a fun way, like, oh, like this, this, this tension's good. I like this drama. It's like a villain that you love to hate. Exactly. Yeah. Um, and then the forest stuff was, was great and creepy too. Like the, the, I just like, I think I just like campfire horror stories and like, or camp horror stories.

[01:18:32] And like when somebody goes missing in the woods, like those kinds of plots and stuff are really fun to me. Um, the ending's a bit of a sheer cliff cause it just kind of ends with, uh, with her, like with, with, with Eva and Wendy becoming Wendigos. But like that's, but, but, but I'm not entirely peeved by it. Like I was, it's, it's, it asks some, there, there are some unanswered questions for sure, but it didn't totally ruin that for me.

[01:19:00] Cause like that, that's just stuff that I can just like think on after I've done reading the story. Um, yeah, it's very much like a, was it a sleepover, a sleepaway camp where it's like we get the big reveal at the end of that one. And it's just, it's over. And it's like, what the fuck did I just watch? What? Um, I mean, you say that, but like, how could the story possibly continue any further? Like she's going to turn fully into a Wendigo.

[01:19:25] So that's, they'll, they'll have a little chat as a like morphing Wendigo into a real Wendigo until she, well, I don't know. Like, I feel like there could have been some more like, like, again, like now that, now that Wendy has taken up the mantle of like the, the, the, the antlered one in the woods. Um, Eva is only just hungry. So like, again, I was going under the impression, like again, that Wendy's been hiding or been like concealing her Wendigo ism while she was still working in town.

[01:19:55] So like, I, I feel like there could have been some more thing there. Like there could have been some extra stuff where like Eva takes up the mantle in town and Wendy stays in the woods. But again, if you're not taking it that way, then yeah, it could just end. Um, but yeah, there, again, it, it felt like the story just kind of ends at the, uh, with some, some unanswered questions. Uh, again, where's dad? Like dad, there's no real, yeah, dad's sure. Fine. Dad's dead. Oh, either.

[01:20:23] Well, he's dead by either being a victim of the, the big Wendigo or he's dead because he was the big Wendigo. Um, but again, that's, uh, the story does offer some, like, there's enough here in the story. I think that like, you're going to get different opinions on like what's going on in the narrative. And again, the ending to me, it does sort of just like stop, but it's also one of those like endings, uh, in horror that were like the story just stops with the characters becoming

[01:20:52] the monsters they were fighting. So again, it's a horror story. So like the story, the stories generally don't end with like a full conclusion. So it didn't, it, it, it bugged me initially, but then it, I, but then I stopped getting too peeved about it. So again, regardless of that, uh, I'm still willing to recommend it because I did enjoy the rest of the read. So Mikey, these stands for evil.

[01:21:23] Well, uh, I didn't like how the ending went where, um, Eva became a Wendigo as well. Well, because we established that read or whatever seems to be a key factor in some of the Wendigo transformation stuff for at least Wendy anyway. Yeah. But we don't get that with Eva.

[01:21:52] So like why that's one of my questions. Like, why did she turn? Hmm. It's just proximity to Wendigo's and like proximity to like the blood and flesh and murder. Yeah. That's, that's, I guess that's, that might be it. It's like when she got sprayed by the black blood maybe, or I don't know. Sorry. Witnessing Wendy consuming flesh probably made her thinking about eating it as well. Perhaps.

[01:22:22] Um, yeah, it's, it's that it's one of the unanswered questions of the story that like, we're just left to ponder on and come up with our own conclusions perhaps about that. Yeah. Cause like the way that I saw the story is, um, Eva went to go check out the, um, cave and then there was a scream and Wendy was freaking out and talking about being hungry. So like the Wendigo was in the forest.

[01:22:51] She saw the Wendigo and just the sight of it or whatever, maybe cast a spell on her somehow. Uh, and then that's how that happened. And then that just happened again now, probably accidentally. Just for when they're staring at each other. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you're going to take it that way, yeah, that could, that could have been what happened then. Uh, if it's just like the, the, the glare of the, of the Wendigo or the glare of the, cause they never actually call it a Wendigo.

[01:23:19] We just, we're inferring it based off of like what the descriptions of what's going on, but they never actually call it a Wendigo. Um, so it's just some creature in the woods that shares similarities to the Algonquin legends. Um, but. Glared witch. Yeah. Oh, I'll see. I'll see. It could, yeah. The Ailswell witch. Yeah. There ain't no, like, uh, I feel like at the end, like, like, or like when they were getting ready to go into the park, I was kind of like, uh, from, from Blair witch project

[01:23:48] two, there's a, there's a moment where like the, the sheriff comes out and like starts like rallying in all the people that are like searching through the woods. Like all the tourists are in the woods. And he's just like, there ain't no God darn witch in them. God darn woods. I just feel like that's Wendy. Like, it's like, there ain't no God dang dad in that God dang woods. A little bit. But yeah, a little Blair witchy. So, yeah. But, uh, yeah, Mikey, I think you're right. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah.

[01:24:17] And then, uh, as I mentioned the time sort of that there's so much time passes that there's so much opportunity for the author to add more. Um, but it's not there. Um, cause I would really like, uh, Parker to not just be a fly on the wall, basically.

[01:24:44] Uh, fair, I suppose. He's the initial kill in every horror movie. Yeah. And I appreciated him for that. Someone's got to die to scare the actual main characters. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There needs to be a sacrificial lamb. Mm hmm. A sacrificial park ranger. Mm hmm. Ah, okay. So his last name is lamb. Gotcha. Yes. Parker lamb. Yep.

[01:25:14] Park ranger. And then, yeah, the, the whole 10 still being there was, it really didn't make much sense because I mean, it'd been a month. Yep. So there were indiscrepancies and, and the time, and there's not enough, uh, substance for you that you, you didn't care for it on that. Yeah. That's why I'm not going to recommend it. All right. Fair enough. Gamer. Uh, for me, I enjoyed the read.

[01:25:42] Uh, most of the decisions were relatively realistic. Um, the characters were developed and pretty strong. Uh, the horror scenes were described pretty well and had like a proper horror ending, at least to me. It didn't leave me with any questions. Um, but that's just, that's just me. I read it face value. So that's, that's the way it is. It's really interesting. Like, cause we both recommend it for different reasons. It seems. I guess. Like, or for, for some, some similar reasons, but like, we also like, we recommend it

[01:26:11] despite the fact that we saw, saw two different like ways of the story, like, like ways the story was telling its narrative. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I just, that's interesting. That's really interesting to me. And just like how we got, we, we, we came in at different angles, but we got to the same kind of, for us, the same conclusion. Pretty much. Because like, when you were reading it, you were like reading between the lines a whole bunch.

[01:26:36] So like, even at the end, you were trying to like make more sense of it than I think you needed to. Cause if you just read the words that are there, it's, it's all there, at least for me. Um, cause yeah, I didn't really have much of a problem. Even my, my mention of like, it's kind of derpy that they left the tents. Yes, it is. But it's also characters in a horror story. If they make all the right decisions, then it's sometimes not as interesting. Um, so yeah, I don't know.

[01:27:06] I didn't really have too much of a problem with it. Also fair. All right. So that's, I guess, two recommendations and one non-recommendation. Do with that what you will. And that'll do it for this week's episode. So if you like what you heard, or if you didn't leave us a comment in the comment section below, wherever this gets posted. Some of us are on blue sky. Mikey is at the East stands for evil. And I'm at review cultist. You can also send us emails at al dentebrigamortis at gmail.com.

[01:27:33] 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 creep pastas, SCPs, spook things. You creep it. We'll peep it. Yeah. And if you'd like to help support our show financially, you can go to Patreon. We have special episodes, early access and extra content to all our patrons helping support the show. Thank you immensely. You're helping keep those hosting bills at bay. And as always, we very much appreciate that.

[01:28:02] And to our listeners and the authors of these stories, thank you immensely. Because without your listenership, it'd be like screaming into the void. And without your authorship writing and posting these stories on the internet, we really wouldn't have much of a show because we'd have nothing to talk about. So thank you. Now's a good time to mention that we are a part of a podcast network, Crit in the Night, an actual play and creepypasta podcast network.

[01:28:27] We're there alongside our sister podcast, One Less Die, and our cousin podcast, The Roleplaying Exchange, for things that go crit in the night. Until next time, I have been your host, Review Cultist. I'm Mikey, the used entry evil. And I'm the gamer in yellow. And this has been Al Dente Rigamortis. Sleep well.