As I walked out onto the sidewalk where my friends and Silas were, I noticed right away that Kimberly and Anna were having an emotional moment.

“I’m so sorry!” Kimberly said.

“Don’t. I said it was okay,” Anna responded gently. She had been crying. Her eyes had that empty look that I now associated with dying in a storyline.

They continued their conversation with Kimberly continuously apologizing through tears.

As I approached the others, I asked, “What’s going on? Are they okay?”

Camden turned to me with a concerned look on his face. “I’m… not sure,” he said. “I was asleep for the final battle.”

Antoine had moved closer to them and was trying to comfort Kimberly, so I looked to Dina for answers. She was watching over the conversation with an intentional detachment.

She took a deep breath.

“The plan was for Kimberly to become the host of the monster and then try to control it because of her buffs and stuff. They thought it might work.” Dina explained. “She got scared of dying so the other one became the host instead and got shot in the head.”

Antoine overheard Dina’s explanation. “No. I took us off-screen," He said, attempting to be a gentle diplomat, "We talked it over. It was something we all decided.”

I understood. Kimberly had always been very afraid of dying in a storyline. Couldn't really blame her. We had to all but promised that we would never put her in the position of dying until she was ready. It was the reason she left her most powerful trope, Looks Don’t Last, at home even though it could be very useful.

I didn’t care as long as she contributed, which she did. It wasn’t like I could complain to anyone. Anna was her best friend and Antoine was her boyfriend. Camden wasn’t going to cause a fuss even if it did bother him.

It made more sense that Kimberly was originally the one who was supposed to be the host. She might have been able to control it completely. So much had been set up for that moment. It probably would have worked.

Anna rushing in and taking her place wasn't as well set up, even with the flashbacks Carousel used to try to explain it away, but it worked pretty well too.

I wasn’t going to get involved just yet, but her decision to back down had undermined a lot of narrative momentum. Eventually, we would have to deal with it.

“Smart thinking with the sedatives,” I said.

“Thanks,” Camden responded. “I just realized that if the sedative worked to stop the manifestation, it might also work to stop the tethe—Wait. How do you know about the syringes?”

I smirked and took out my Director’s Monitor trope. I told him about Deathwatch and seeing the story from the point of view of the audience.

Our conversation even managed to distract the others from their apologies and I had to repeat it all so they could all hear. I told them about the other people cheering and clapping in the audience.

"And Kimberly," I said, "You did great. I couldn't even tell that something had happened."

I wasn't sure if that did anything to make her feel better but I had to take a shot.

“So that’s how we get aspects,” Camden said. “We have to die?”

“I don’t think so. That’s how it works for Film Buffs. It’s probably different for other archetypes. Todd said something about it a long time ago, but I didn’t really understand it at the time.”

“What did the people in the audience look like?” Anna asked. She was tired but trying to sound interested and concerned.

“I couldn’t tell,” I answered. “I couldn't make myself look that direction in time.”

We took some time to discuss who it could be. Dead Film Buffs? Some eldritch audience that we have been enslaved to entertain? Maybe they were just random NPCs. We didn’t get too long to talk about it because Silas the Showman was getting impatient.

“I’d say you're really pushing my buttons,” Silas said. “But that’s exactly what you’re not doing! Hehehe.”

Antoine walked up to the mechanical fortune teller and slapped his red button. There was a moment of hesitation as his hand got close, but he pushed through it.

He received three tropes, two stat tickets, and a monster card for one of the KRSL Agents he killed. He had gotten his bat back and intact, as well as an unloaded handgun that he pulled off a guard and three syringes of the sedative that he had taken from the guards after finding Camden. He never used them, so that part got cut from the movie.

Like a Security Blanket

Type: Buff/Perk

Archetype: Any

Aspect: Any

Stat Used: N/A

Whether in the movies or in real life, holding some means of protection can calm the nerves and make you brave enough to do what needs to be done.

When this ticket is equipped, the player’s Grit is buffed merely by brandishing a weapon, even if that weapon has little hope of doing any good.

The boost to one’s sense of safety radiates through the player and calms them in scary situations. The more powerful the weapon and the more proficient the player is with it, the more nearby allies will feel the same sense of security.

“A knife in the hand is better than two in the chest.”