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The Pineapple Cabaret Synopsis · The Apocalypse Will Be Podcasted

0:00
Hi, thank you for joining us, Crawlers. Today's
0:02
episode is going to be a little different than
0:05
our normal format. We say that almost every episode.
0:09
Maybe it's only been lately. But we have been
0:12
doing some very special episodes leading up to
0:16
the Book 8 release, which at this point is three
0:19
days from now, and we are so excited. Yay. But
0:23
we want to cover some high -level info from the
0:28
Pineapple Cabaret. chapters so that people who
0:31
haven't read it can understand what is going
0:34
on in those chapters because we think it's pretty
0:37
important for book eight yes so the pineapple
0:39
cabaret chapters were originally meant to be
0:41
a standalone story as bonus content basically
0:44
the publisher said to matt hey we want you to
0:47
make something to go in the physical books that
0:50
will only be available there so this was meant
0:51
to be like a standalone story bonus content and
0:55
i do believe that that was true Or like the earlier
0:58
chapters of the Pineapple Cabaret, they do become
1:01
a lot more lore heavy in the later chapters.
1:04
And then once you read book eight, it is very
1:08
important to understand and have the knowledge
1:11
of what happens in these chapters. Yes. And once
1:15
again, this is a high level overview. We are
1:18
not going to be going over everything that happens
1:20
in these chapters. This is not a replacement
1:23
for reading those chapters. This is just kind
1:25
of a bandaid to get you into book eight until
1:28
you get a chance to borrow the books from a friend
1:32
or go into Barnes and Nobles and read it, get
1:33
it from the library. There's a lot of options.
1:37
Yeah, just go into Barnes and Noble, Books a
1:40
Million, Target. And just grab one of the books
1:42
like these chapters are very short. You can even
1:45
myself, who's a very slow reader, I can read
1:48
in about 15 minutes tops. There are some things
1:51
in these chapters we will deliberately not be
1:53
discussing. And that's because we feel that they
1:55
would be book eight spoilers. Yes. Well, we'll
1:58
cover it, but we're not going to like break it
2:00
down or like extrapolate further on it. This
2:03
is merely meant to cover what happens in these
2:05
chapters. We will discuss content and relevance
2:09
to maybe books one through seven, but we are
2:11
going to be avoiding any direct book eight spoilers.
2:15
For this episode, it will be very important to
2:18
understand the distinction between the Pineapple
2:21
Cabaret and Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.
2:24
Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret is actually
2:26
the 17th floor of the dungeon, and it is the
2:30
construction area essentially where these NPCs
2:33
that the story centers around. And they are actually
2:37
building and constructing the 17th floor. The
2:39
Pineapple Cabaret itself is essentially a promised
2:44
land where these NPCs are told they'll get to
2:47
go if they do a good job. So each chapter does
2:51
have a different point of view character. And
2:53
the first chapter is going to be Rory. And who
2:56
is Rory? Rory is the goblin that Donut and Carl
3:00
met on the first floor. that Donut gave the name
3:03
Rory after Gilmore Girls. And Rory and the goblins
3:07
were involved in a meth war against the llamas.
3:11
And we're going to be meeting Grandma Llama in
3:13
the next episode. And they're going to keep fighting,
3:15
but not over meth. Sometimes meth. Yeah. So when
3:20
Donut gives Rory her name, that starts the process
3:23
of waking up for her. And this is like what's
3:27
described in the other books where it says that
3:29
Juicebox has been going around waking up the
3:31
NPCs and making them realize that they're NPCs.
3:34
And so Rory becomes obsessed with this awakening
3:38
process and it feels really good for her. And
3:41
she wants to spread it to other NPCs. So she
3:43
goes around naming the other NPCs that she's
3:46
with. And she's kind of a dick about it. She
3:49
won't let some of the people have the names that
3:51
they want. She arbitrarily gives names that one
3:54
goblin wants to another goblin like just to be
3:56
a dick. And basically what happens is she's messaging
4:01
with Damien who's one of the big bosses of the
4:04
dungeons over most of the NPCs and she changes
4:07
her name in that chat to Rory which makes him
4:10
realize that something's up and he says that
4:13
he's sending people down to talk to her. which
4:16
she realizes from the memories that she's just
4:18
reclaimed that that means that he is sending
4:20
someone to kill her. Yeah. Interesting. And just
4:24
real quick, I think something that's funny with
4:26
these chapters is like, even though a lot of
4:28
these NPCs like become awakened and stuff, they
4:31
still very much so have personalities of the
4:34
kind of like mobs that they are. So you don't
4:36
get awakened and then become like nice, good
4:37
people. Like there's still a lot of them are
4:39
like still unhinged and assholes or crazy. Like
4:43
Rory is not very nice. Yeah, and she realizes
4:47
that she doesn't want to be recycled or go to
4:50
sleep. And that's what's going to happen if she
4:52
dies. So she starts trying to escape. And basically,
4:56
a voice starts talking to her that's probably
4:59
the AI. And then all of a sudden, she is at a
5:03
big empty room, which is the backstage at the
5:08
Pineapple Cabaret. And she also doesn't have
5:11
some great feelings towards Crawlers because
5:13
at first she loves Carl and Donut and she's so
5:16
thankful to Donut that she got her name from
5:19
Donut. But then she hears later that they killed
5:23
an entire room full of goblin babies and she
5:26
was very attached to one of them and she's very
5:28
upset about that. Understandably so. I think
5:31
anyone would be mad and upset if they found out
5:34
someone killed their baby. It is also, you know,
5:37
important to note kind of for this story. that
5:40
the early floor NPCs from like floors one and
5:42
two are different from most other NPCs in the
5:46
dungeon because they know and are aware that
5:49
they're dungeon born, that they're in a dungeon,
5:51
what is going on, etc. But they still, even though
5:56
they have that knowledge, kind of operate on
5:58
this false story that they've been given and
6:02
don't know at the time that those are false memories
6:05
and stuff that have been implanted in them, except
6:07
once they start getting woken up. Rory starts
6:10
realizing this and other NPCs as well from the
6:12
early floors realize this. Yeah, and that's a
6:14
good segue into Grandmother Llama, who is the
6:17
second chapter. So she explains that most NPCs
6:22
from floors one and two know they're dungeon
6:24
born and that when monsters come in from floors
6:27
three and above, it's very upsetting for them
6:30
because they don't even have the basic concept
6:33
of what a dungeon is. So like if they're from
6:36
the circus, like... They thought the circus was
6:39
real. That was their whole life. They don't even
6:41
understand the concept that there are NPCs, which
6:45
is something that the NPCs from the first and
6:48
second floor did understand. Yeah, and that's
6:50
something we see throughout the books in general.
6:52
Carl and Donut wake up a number of NPCs throughout
6:55
it, and some of them take it better than others.
6:57
So Grandma Llama, that is so hard to say. Please
7:02
forgive me if I struggle with it a couple more
7:04
times in this episode. But she still has false
7:06
memories. despite knowing that the dungeon is
7:10
fake. And she's still trying to sort those out
7:14
and understand them. She does think that the
7:18
Pineapple Cabaret promise is probably bullshit
7:21
or manipulation. And she's very distressful of
7:25
Rory and doesn't like her because of that. And
7:28
it turns out that Rory has gotten kind of a promotion
7:32
where she's one of the heads of the NPCs. who
7:36
is actually running the Pineapple Cabaret backstage
7:39
is Minerva, who is a former cookbook author and
7:44
a former crawler. And it's still unclear who's
7:48
in charge overall, but mostly it's Minerva and
7:50
Rory calling the shots. So this chapter is where
7:54
we learn a lot of the info that we stated in
7:56
the beginning about what the Pineapple Cabaret
7:59
is and what backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret
8:02
is. So just repeating. That backstage at the
8:07
Pineapple Cabaret is the 17th floor of the dungeon.
8:11
They don't expect that any crawler will ever
8:13
get there alive because no crawler has ever made
8:16
it past floor 13. But they still have to train
8:20
and they still have to make the floor as good
8:22
as possible. And Minerva tells them that if they
8:25
do a good job on the floor, then they will get
8:29
to go to the Pineapple Cabaret, which is in PC
8:31
Heaven. Yes, and it is. Interesting because so
8:34
as these NPCs are brought here, some of the first
8:38
ones are from like floor one and two. And those
8:40
are, you know, obviously some of the weakest
8:42
NPCs we see throughout the series. But as they
8:46
progress and, you know, build up this maze, they
8:49
get stronger and stronger and stronger. So ostensibly
8:51
by the time the crawlers get there, they're going
8:53
to be floor 17 level strong, but in excess of
8:56
level 150. Yeah, and I think people will be really
8:59
excited about this next chapter because Growler
9:02
Gary is the point of view character for this
9:05
next chapter. And can you just remind us who
9:07
Growler Gary is? Yeah, so Growler Gary is the
9:10
gnoll from the Floor with All the Trains Dungeon
9:15
Anarchist cookbook. And he's the guy that is
9:18
in the bar and they have to keep cutting his
9:21
hands off over and over again so that they can
9:24
operate the carts. portals on them. And what's
9:28
important about Growler Gary, besides being a
9:30
good dude, is that he is immortal and always
9:33
respawns after dying. He also says that he remembers
9:36
dinosaurs biting his nose. I don't know if Mongo
9:39
ever specifically bit his nose. I feel like most
9:41
of the time he just chomped his head. Growler
9:43
Gary says repeatedly that Mongo bit his nose.
9:47
Bad Mongo. You were supposed to chomp the whole
9:49
head, not the nose. Is that better? Anyways.
9:51
It's instant death versus getting your nose bitten.
9:54
And Growler Gary does not like getting his nose
9:56
bitten. But so Gary also does not like it when
10:00
I bite her nose. I sure don't. So Gary wakes
10:04
up infused and disoriented. Because he's hungover.
10:08
Yes. And he's mostly focused on two things, which
10:12
is missing Jen Jen, who's his girlfriend, and
10:15
wanting alcohol. So he gets brought into an office
10:19
with Rory and Minerva and Minerva tells Rory
10:22
to wake Gary up using the method. And what the
10:27
method is, is that Rory asks him to think back
10:30
as far as he can remember until he finds contradictions
10:35
that he can't explain that makes him realize
10:38
that he must be in the dungeon. And I thought
10:41
that this was very interesting because in the
10:43
movie Inception. This is how they make people
10:46
realize that they're dreaming. So I thought that
10:49
that was a fun connection. It's basically being
10:53
like, OK, but yes, we're in a cafe. You remember
10:57
how you got to this cafe? Why are you in the
10:59
cafe? Why are you here? Where were you before?
11:01
Do you have coffee? I want some coffee. So everyone
11:05
is very happy that Gary is now backstage at the
11:09
Pineapple Cabaret. Because since he cannot die,
11:13
he can test traps safely, which no one else can
11:17
do. And yeah, that's important because they're
11:20
building out this floor and they're making sure
11:22
it's as deadly as possible. And so if their traps
11:25
suck, well, they need to know that. And if anyone
11:27
else tests them, they ain't coming back. Yeah,
11:30
and at this point, Rory is calling herself a
11:33
high priestess of the Pineapple Cabaret. She
11:36
changed her title in her chat so that it says
11:38
that she's a priestess. And even Minerva was
11:41
kind of shocked when she did that. So she is
11:44
having basically church services where she is
11:48
spreading the cult of the Pineapple Cabaret.
11:52
But as we mentioned in the last chapter, Grandma
11:55
Llama does not believe in the Pineapple Cabaret.
11:58
And she's extremely suspicious of Rory. So she's
12:04
trying to get people. over to her side of things.
12:07
So the way that Grandmother Llama tries to get
12:10
Gary to come over to her side of things is to
12:14
tell him that she knows how to make alcohol.
12:17
This is significant because Gary told Rory that
12:20
he needed more alcohol and Rory said, it's fine,
12:23
you don't need any more. And he was pretty upset
12:27
about that because he could tell that Rory was
12:29
still on meth. And how are they getting meth?
12:31
Are the llamas making meth? I have no idea how
12:34
they're getting meth at this point. And Gary
12:35
doesn't know either. I think one of them came
12:37
down and still had like a stash of meth on them.
12:39
But it is funny because in these earlier chapters,
12:42
all of the goblins are going through meth withdrawal.
12:44
And so there is obviously still tension between
12:46
the goblins and the llamas because of the meth
12:48
wars that they were in. And I think the goblins
12:50
think that they can still get meth from the llamas.
12:52
And the llamas are like, dude, can't help you.
12:54
So it's very, very fun. One other important note
13:00
from this chapter is that former cookbook author
13:03
Herod is still alive and that Minerva is doing
13:08
a call with him where they are speaking. And
13:11
it's funny because when Carl is talking about
13:14
Herod's cookbook chapters, he says that they're
13:16
rambling and they don't really make any sense.
13:19
And Minerva says that Herod never shuts up. Doesn't
13:22
know when to stop talking like me sometimes.
13:24
And I just start talking and then I don't know
13:26
what I'm saying. And we just cut that. It's also
13:29
right. So our next chapter. centers around the
13:33
hamster cock doodle do and he is going to mostly
13:36
be referred to as doodle even though he hates
13:39
that he doesn't like it but minerva tells him
13:42
your name is way too long i'm going to call you
13:44
doodle is that okay and he's like yes and then
13:47
in his head he's like no it's not okay yeah so
13:50
um this is the hamster incest chapter and it's
13:53
kind of like the nessie situation where i remembered
13:56
there being much more dialogue related to the
14:01
hamster incest than actually occurs. But it is
14:04
very memorable. Like, brother, give me your hamster
14:08
batter. That is going to be seared in my brain
14:10
forever. And this is one of those things where
14:13
I'm just like, Matt, did you have to write this?
14:17
It's kind of like with George R .R. Martin where
14:18
it's like, did you? I mean, I know incest happened
14:21
back then, but did you have to put so much of
14:23
it in your books? Was it really necessary to
14:26
the plot? Yes. I guess the answer is yes. Yeah,
14:30
so it is interesting that Doodle and his brother
14:35
and sister are not actually dungeon born. They
14:40
are real creatures from Earth that got moved
14:42
over. And they were meant to be part of a side
14:46
quest that never got activated in a pet shop.
14:49
On one of the earlier floors, I think, floor
14:52
three. So these are all like real normal hamsters
14:56
that were taken from the surface of the earth
14:57
and brought into the dungeon, but they were essentially
14:59
given pet biscuits similar to the ones that Perpetente
15:02
and Donut got. The one that Doodle received was
15:05
more in line with the kind that Perpetente got,
15:08
where he was made extremely intelligent, whereas
15:11
his brother and sister got ones, I guess, more
15:13
similar to the kind that Donut got, where it
15:15
just made them sentient, but they're still hamsters,
15:18
and I guess it's inferred that hamsters... not
15:22
nearly as smart as cats. So Doodle's brother
15:24
and sister are basically fucking idiots, and
15:26
that's why they're trying to just have sex all
15:28
the time and cause a ruckus. Yeah, they cause
15:30
a lot of problems backstage, and Minerva is very
15:34
impressed. by Doodle's intelligence and immediately
15:38
says that she's going to give him a very important
15:41
job. She implies that she's going to throw his
15:43
brother and sister in the back room, which the
15:46
back room is kind of interesting in how people
15:49
talk about it. When I first read the book, I
15:51
thought it was implying that they were just going
15:54
to kill them. But from what we see later in the
15:57
chapters, that might not be the case. It might
15:59
just be a holding cell for the NPCs who are particularly
16:02
vicious or stupid. Yeah, so they put like the
16:06
danger dingoes back there. We learn later they
16:09
put the dregs back there, which are like the
16:11
crazy babies from the trains. But Doodle says
16:14
that he won't help her unless he gets to keep
16:16
his brother and sister with him. Understandable.
16:19
So Minerva says that Warrant really messed up
16:23
because he shouldn't still have memories from
16:25
Earth and that that is a sign that they were
16:28
trying to cut corners and they were trying to
16:31
save money and that they're not doing a very
16:34
good job. Yeah, and we do get a lot of Doodle's
16:37
memories from Earth and his owner that he had.
16:40
And, you know, it's actually kind of sad because
16:42
she seemed to favor his brother and sister over
16:45
him. But he, you know, still holds her very fondly
16:49
in his heart, which we see that with pretty much
16:51
all of the pets in the series that have been
16:53
awakened have a lot of love for their owners.
16:57
Yeah, and there's kind of a fun reference to
17:01
the main books in here. Where it says that Doodle
17:05
got summoned during the wave of rodents that
17:09
the AI is sending to Carl, trying to get him
17:12
to smush him. And then basically he gets transported
17:15
back. And the AI is like, haha, never mind, we
17:18
made up. And is like, okay, you're going back
17:20
into storage. And then Doodle and his brother
17:23
and sister are brought to backstage at the Pineapple
17:25
Cabaret. There's a variety of social groups backstage
17:28
at the Cabaret. So there's Gary's alcohol parties.
17:32
Rory's church cult. And then there's a board
17:35
game obsessed group, which is run by this giant
17:38
brain character who doesn't really ever do anything
17:41
and might become important later on. He's kind
17:44
of just like a snarky asshole, but not even like
17:47
a fun kind of snarky asshole. He's kind of like
17:49
a better than you nerd that nobody really likes.
17:53
A little harsh. I mean, it's true. And then there's
17:58
also the skeptics group like Grandma Llama. I
18:02
think they're mostly going to the board games.
18:03
That's just my impression. Yeah. But Doodle is
18:07
really worried about Gary because he's been given
18:09
mob creation powers. And it's kind of unclear
18:13
who has those powers because there's a line that
18:16
makes you think that the hamsters might have
18:17
them too. But it's unclear. But Gary is using
18:22
this to create replacement versions of Jen Jen.
18:25
And they keep disappearing after a couple of
18:28
days. And nobody really knows what's happening
18:30
to them. But people suspect that they're going
18:33
to the back room, which is why I thought that
18:34
was a euphemism for killing people. Yeah. And
18:37
he's creating these girlfriends and it's like
18:39
he's not doing a good job and there's something
18:42
wrong with them. And so that's why they're kind
18:44
of like getting taken and getting disappeared.
18:47
Yeah. Doodle does mistrust the llamas a lot.
18:50
And there have been NPC disappearing. And he
18:54
thinks that those things are related. So he goes
18:56
to spy on the llamas. So Doodle goes to spy on
19:00
the llamas. And when he gets there, he is hiding
19:03
in some pipes. And he can see the llamas talking
19:06
to a new changeling. And her name is Willow Joy.
19:10
And she notices that he's up there. And then
19:14
he has to make a run for it. And we don't see
19:16
Doodle again for several chapters. Yep. I hope
19:19
he's okay. So the next chapter is Willow Joy.
19:23
And she is a changeling and she is pretending
19:26
to be the Goblin Spaghetti to hang out with Fowler
19:30
Gary. And the reason that she's doing this is
19:34
she wants to get to the fake girlfriend, Jen
19:38
Jen, that he's been creating and try to figure
19:41
out what's going on with her and what's wrong
19:43
with her. But she can't do that until Gary's
19:46
asleep. The first part of the chapter is her
19:49
waiting for him to go to sleep. And kind of reflecting
19:52
about her memories and how she got here. And
19:56
she has a very interesting backstory. And she's
19:59
going to try and touch Jumping Jinjin. And so
20:04
she can assume her form. And this is a plot put
20:07
in place by Grandma Llama's people, right? Correct,
20:10
yes. So that they can basically use Willowjoy
20:13
pretending to be Jumping Jinjin to kind of manipulate
20:16
and control Growler Gary, right? That's correct.
20:19
And when Willow Joy showed up on the floor, she
20:22
lied and said that she was an assassin. But she
20:26
was not. She was actually in the Scolopendra
20:28
Club and she was a prostitute. Interesting. I
20:31
wonder how she ended up here. So she's been serving
20:33
the Priestess of the Priory, which is the group
20:38
that is usually driving heiress. And she's been
20:42
serving the Abbeyess of that group as her personal
20:45
attendant for several seasons. But this season,
20:50
as we know, Iris is not being driven by the Priory.
20:53
She's being driven by the influencer, Naomi.
20:56
Nami? Nami. Nami. So basically, when the Abbeyess
21:01
finds out that she's not going to be allowed
21:04
to drive Iris, she basically rage quits doing
21:07
the crawl and she storms out and leaves, meaning
21:10
that Willowjoy has to be assigned to someone
21:13
else. And she gets assigned to Architect Houston's
21:17
who is Nurse Yugoslav. And Willow knows from
21:21
her reputation that this is a death sentence
21:25
and it's going to be a very unpleasant death.
21:28
So she runs and she tries to get away. And she
21:32
basically keeps going through several tunnels
21:34
until she ends up backstage at the Pineapple
21:36
Cabaret. Interesting. Okay. And she's far more
21:40
aware than most NPCs are because she wasn't really
21:42
in the dungeon. She was in the skull picture
21:44
club. Interesting. And I think that's also a
21:46
lot of times ends up being true of angelings.
21:49
Seems that they tend to have more memories once
21:52
they get awakened. Yeah, they do. She says that
21:56
she feels really bad that she's involved in Grandmother
21:59
Llama's plot to manipulate Gary because he seems
22:03
like a really good guy. And that's something
22:05
that gets brought up in almost every chapter.
22:08
The characters don't just care about Gary because
22:11
he's useful to the Pineapple Cabaret. They really
22:14
care about him as a person because they think
22:16
he's a good person. So Growler Gary finally falls
22:20
asleep and Willa Joy sneaks into his room to
22:23
check on Jen Jen and see what's going on with
22:26
her and then to be able to assume her form. And
22:28
when she does that and touches Jen Jen, she instantly
22:32
knows something is wrong and finds out that this
22:34
is not. a NPC that Growler Gary created but rather
22:38
a shadow mimic. And this ends up with Willowjoy
22:41
getting killed by this shadow mimic and then
22:44
the shadow mimic assumes Willowjoy's form. Yes,
22:48
and the shadow mimic says that Gary believes
22:50
that every time he creates a girlfriend that
22:54
they just run away from him. He doesn't understand
22:57
that he is creating shadow mimics. Or it says
23:01
that he understands but he doesn't want to face
23:03
the fact that that's what's happening. I just
23:06
want to say that this Willow Joy chapter was
23:09
excellent. It was one of my favorite in the series.
23:12
It was so deep and there were so many themes
23:14
and things from the chapter that we didn't go
23:16
into. You really need to read it for yourself.
23:18
Yeah, it's absolutely worth it. I mean, reading
23:20
all of these chapters is really worth it. Getting
23:23
your hands on a physical copy of the books. In
23:25
some form, you don't have to go out and buy it.
23:27
Again, just go to a bookstore, borrow it from
23:30
a friend, etc. Highly worth it. So this next
23:33
chapter is from the perspective of Jelly Bun,
23:36
or Juju, who is a baby drek. And the dreks are
23:40
the demonic babies that we encounter very early
23:43
on in the Iron Tangle. And they hunt and feed
23:48
in swarms. They're quite terrifying. Yeah, and
23:51
Rory is dragging around this baby drek. And how
23:56
did she get it? She went to the back room and
23:58
pulled her out and was basically like, you're
23:59
my pet now. Yeah, and... Juju has a ton of loyalty
24:03
to her, even though, as mentioned before, Rory
24:06
is an asshole and treats people and things like
24:08
shit. Yeah, so she got this direct and was like,
24:12
you're my pet now. And the direct hit her. And
24:15
so then Rory bit off the direct's finger and
24:17
was like, don't do that again. Yeah, and Juju
24:20
gaslights herself about how Rory actually does
24:23
really love her a lot. And it's definitely going
24:26
back to the pets love humans because they make
24:30
them feel safe theme. There is so much of that
24:32
in the pineapple cabaret. And this direct chapters,
24:35
there's a lot of internal thought processes from
24:38
this direct. And like her awakening is very interesting
24:41
because she is not a smart, like the directs
24:44
are not smart mobs at all. Well, and she doesn't
24:47
have the ability to speak. Yes. And so like the
24:50
directs and the danger dingoes are mostly just
24:52
kept in the back room. And no one really tries
24:55
to awaken them because they're just too stupid,
24:57
basically. Yeah, but Drex do have the ability
25:00
to sense shadow mimics. And according to Juju,
25:05
she thinks that there is maybe 30 shadow mimics
25:09
among the 150 NPCs that now populate the floor.
25:13
Wow. And she's really internally panicking because
25:16
she knows how dangerous they are, but she can't
25:17
tell anyone else. Well, the good news is that
25:20
the floor construction is finally completed.
25:23
But Rory is having a little bit of a crisis of
25:26
faith about being able to go into the pineapple
25:28
cabaret. And that's where she reveals that Minerva
25:32
secretly showed her the cabaret and that she
25:35
got to see inside of it. And that's why she so
25:39
strongly believes in it. And like has her church
25:42
and her cult and everything. Yeah. But basically
25:45
she begs Minerva to let her see inside it again.
25:50
And she wants everyone to see it so that everyone
25:53
will believe. But Minerva says that that always
25:56
goes badly, which is interesting. Yeah, so they
25:59
tried that like previous iterations and like
26:02
it didn't go well. Which we didn't mention earlier
26:05
that this is what the 17th floor always is. So
26:09
this has happened before. And however many seasons,
26:13
we're not sure, but it's been happening for a
26:15
long time. Yeah, so Minerva opens the door to
26:19
show Rory a pineapple cabaret. And when she does
26:23
that, Juju pulls on her leash and she drags herself
26:28
into the pineapple cabaret. And so she's inside
26:32
the cabaret. And this is what she said. This
26:36
was the scent of something older, even more dangerous.
26:39
This was the scent of the gods. Not just gods,
26:42
little one. Not the kind from the ascendancy.
26:45
not the kind from Sheol. These are the old gods,
26:48
the real gods. They found this place soon after
26:51
it was built. This is where they've been hiding.
26:54
This is how they move in between worlds. Which
26:57
I will say in the book, it doesn't actually say
26:59
what that voice was. I don't know if it's supposed
27:02
to be a memory. I don't know if it's the AI.
27:04
It is a little bit unclear there. Yeah, and even
27:06
Juju's like, wait, where did that voice come
27:08
from? Like, who's talking to me? That's an amazing
27:10
quote. Yes, it is. And there is a lot. like wrapped
27:14
up in that quote right there. And I want to know,
27:18
yeah, looking forward to learning more about
27:20
that. But yeah, basically we find out that the
27:23
Pineapple Cabaret has been infected with some
27:26
kind of evil and it is no longer safe. And this
27:30
is actually where Doodle ended up going to and
27:34
they see him in this moment and he tries to jump
27:37
through the portal from the Pineapple Cabaret
27:39
back into the backstage and he misses his chance.
27:42
Because he says it's safer there. Yeah. Yeah.
27:44
He's like, I need to get back to the backstage
27:46
because this pineapple cabaret shit's going wrong
27:48
here. And then there is these two ogres off in
27:51
the distance that they see who look friendly.
27:53
But then they start charging towards the portal
27:56
and then it gets snapped off. All right. So this
27:58
next and last chapter of the pineapple cabaret
28:02
is from the perspective of Larry, the shadow
28:05
mimic. And Larry is not actually his name. All
28:08
the names used for the shadow mimics in this
28:10
chapter are the names of the NPCs whose form
28:13
they have assumed. Yeah, and there's a couple
28:15
of pages of kind of banter and joking around
28:18
between the shadow mimics that isn't really important
28:21
and doesn't give us a lot of insight. Yeah, and
28:23
I guess they have some kind of like neural network
28:25
where they can all talk to each other. Yeah,
28:27
so basically they're all training and trying
28:31
to get their levels up. When all of a sudden
28:33
they realize that a bunch of people that they
28:36
perceive as level one are flooding into the floor.
28:40
And we get a announcement from Minerva here.
28:43
Yes. That Brie is going to read. Yeah, this is
28:45
a long one, but I'm going to read it because
28:47
it's real good. Guys, Minerva said, heading in
28:51
over the same loudspeaker. I'm sorry. I haven't
28:54
been fully honest with you. This wasn't supposed
28:56
to happen like this. But the pineapple cabaret
28:59
is real. It's real because I built it myself.
29:02
I built it with my friend Harrod. I swear to
29:04
you it is the paradise I promised. But Harrod
29:07
is trapped there and it's become infested with
29:09
types of creatures I don't have the time to explain
29:11
to you. A creature from outside the dungeon.
29:14
Harrod and I were trapped together in a place
29:16
called the library and we escaped to this place.
29:19
It's too much to tell you right now. Only the
29:22
AI knows we're here. The showrunners don't know
29:24
we're here. They think Harrod and I are dead.
29:27
That we were killed. I'm telling you this now
29:29
because whatever is happening right now is sure
29:31
to gain their attention, and that means I'll
29:34
be discovered. Once I'm discovered, I'll probably
29:36
be killed. This means I have to do something
29:38
very desperate to stay alive. I'm going to enter
29:41
the cabaret myself, and I'm going to try to get
29:43
to my friend. Do not go after me. It's not safe.
29:47
Not yet. The instructions on what to do are left
29:50
on my desk. Follow the instructions, and I promise
29:52
you that paradise will be yours. A lot wrapped
29:55
up there. There's a lot going on there. There
29:58
is. There's not a whole lot more that we can
30:01
really break down there. Yeah, that's kind of
30:04
what we know at this point. Right, absolutely.
30:07
And the rest of this chapter is basically these
30:10
Skolopendra floor inhabitants are trying to flee
30:14
the Skolopendra level. Because shit's going down
30:17
with the trap that Justice Light set off. And
30:21
everyone in the Skolopendra level is getting
30:24
attacked. killed and such, all of these outworlders
30:28
from the Scolopendra Club are fleeing up to the
30:32
17th floor. And the shadow mimics are watching
30:36
this and they're like, these guys are fucking
30:38
idiots. Like, where are all these level one people
30:39
coming from? They're just like running straight
30:41
into traps. Wait, why are they disappearing when
30:44
they're dying? They're just disappearing. What's
30:45
going on? And it's like this bedlam is breaking
30:49
out right now. And this is from the perspective
30:52
of, again, Larry the Shadow Mimic. He's watching
30:55
this outworlder and she basically like walks
30:57
up to this trap and it impales her and she has
31:01
like no reaction. And he's like, what the heck?
31:03
And we find out that this is actually Epitome
31:06
Noflex, Epitome Tag's mom. And she's talking
31:10
to Larry and she's like, hey, could you be a
31:12
deer and kill me? That way I can regenerate and
31:16
go back into my room in the Skullpendra Club.
31:19
Where I have security. Where I have security
31:21
and I'll be safe. And also I had a massage appointment
31:24
that is surely going to get canceled. And Larry
31:27
is like, this is weird. And he takes a bite out
31:29
of her. And he has this internal monologue or
31:34
dialogue with himself where he's like, whoa,
31:36
like this level indicator is obviously wrong.
31:39
Like this is power. This is what real power feels
31:43
like. This is the most delicious thing I've ever
31:45
had. And he basically then says to all the rest
31:50
of the shadow mimics through their chat. And
31:52
he's like, guys, screw trying to take over the
31:55
Pineapple Cabaret. Like we need to go down and
31:58
feast on the people down there. That's where
32:00
we're going to get really powerful. And that's
32:03
where the Pineapple Cabaret chapters end. It
32:05
sure is. And we will see you soon discussing
32:08
book eight. We look forward to having you join
32:11
us next week where we will be releasing our.
32:15
First Impressions review of Book 8, which is
32:17
a spoilers -free First Impressions episode. New
32:21
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32:23
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