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Chapter Five: Halloween Trilogy, Part One

Hallularity
As you probably have guessed, Halloween is the Crumpets’ favorite holiday, and they are not alone as it is also THE biggie at the LGC. Admittedly, this is partly due to the fact that it is the only major holiday without a significant vacation break attached to it so the majority of students are in-Glass for it. Regardless, the Halloween season is a beloved and magical time, not only at the LGC, but throughout Zeitgeist, where it is immensely popular.

Despite being crazy-busy, the girls had been catching pumpkin-fever just as much, if not more, than the other students. After all, their other-side debut was the big Halloween show. The day after Kari's birthday party, the weather was beautiful and sunny, so Sarah and Yulia decided to take a stroll down to the security office and pick up the mail that would have otherwise been delivered to them on Monday by Campus Services. It was a good thing that they had the presence of mind to take a collapsible shopping cart with them, as there was quite a bit of fan mail, and lots of Halloween treats from their families and sponsors. 

After loading their plunder (they were still using pirate-speak despite Talk Like a Pirate Day having come and gone weeks ago, arrgh), they visited for a bit with Gracie Ann, a security officer who typically worked the Sunday shift. Even though Sarah and Yulia were anxious to get back and start going through the mail, Gracie had only recently returned to work, having recuperated from two broken ribs, which were the result of a crazy parasailing accident. YuSa decided they needed to get the skinny on what had happened. Gracie explained that what appeared to be a whale (but instead turned out to be a blob of floating garbage) had surfaced in front of the tow boat, causing the driver to swerve to miss it. The boat then stalled, Gracie lost lift, and ended up falling right onto a jet ski, knocking its rider off, and sending Gracie (who was now draped over the jet ski) coasting into a buoy, which startled a sleeping seal that fell on her, breaking two of her ribs. 

After Gracie had filled them in, and YuSa had expressed their amazement and sympathy, they said goodbye and headed back up the hill. 

“Wasn’t it Gracie who was run over by a baby hippo at the zoo a few years ago”? Sarah queried once they were back outside. 

“I think you’re right, and she is here to keep us safe?!” Yulia giggled.

Passing by the girls’ dorms, YuSa overheard something that clearly excited them. They grinned at each other and began trotting along toward Crumpet Hall with such alacrity that their cartload of booty bounced and rattled precariously behind them. Back at the Hall, the other members were eagerly awaiting their arrival. 

Coming in the front door, they were intercepted by Analey, who was rather wound up. “What took you so long?” she questioned impatiently. 

“Get this,” Yulia replied, “We're becoming Hallular!” 

Analey gave her a playful shove, saying, “Shut the front door! Really, what happened?!” 

“Well, when we were heading down the hill, some of the windows on Sunny Hall were open and they were rockin' out to ‘This is Halloween.’ Then, on our way back, we heard the end of Spica’s ‘Witch's Diary.’” 

Before Yulia could finish, the other members crowded in, anxiously wondering what this had to do with their Hallularity. Yulia stepped back, pushing Sarah forward to finish the story. 

Without thinking, Sarah gladly picked up where Yulia left off, “So, just as we were passing by, the next song came on, and it was ‘Bibity!’” 

Analey, sounding a bit disappointed, said, “Ya, and?” 

“And, when our song came on, there was a chorus of screaming, and what they screamed was, ‘Bibity, Bibity, now it's Halloween!’” 

There was a pause of silence long enough for Sarah to realize why Yulia had pushed her forward, whereupon the silence ended with Sarah being crushed in a wave of spastic Crumpets.

Enid, who had walked in just in time to see Analey shove Yulia, came over to make sure everything was okay. “Good morning,” she said loudly, adding, “What’s going on?!” 

The girls turned around and Tinsley exclaimed, “We're becoming Hallular!” 

Enid took a moment to process this. She reasoned that Hallular might mean either being popular in Hallyu (the Korean wave), or becoming a beloved part of Halloween (Halloween + popular = Hallular). 

Enid correctly determined that the second option was what was meant in this case, so she said, “Felicitations! You girls are becoming part of the Halloween lexicon!” 

Each Crumpet's eyes widened with surprise and then narrowed with suspicion. Enid felt a sudden chill. 

In a bit of a spooky voice, Tabitha said, “She knows our lingo. She knows it a little too well. I think the time has come.” 

At this point, the girls shouted, “K-bop!” whereupon they surrounded poor Enid, each giving her a slap on the back between her shoulders. Once they had each smacked her, Tabitha, who had led the assault, pressed her elbow into the spot on Enid’s back where they had been swatting her, thus sending a sharp, electric shock-like sensation down Enid's spine. 

Continuing Enid's initiation, they each ruffled her hair, kissed her cheek, and Tabitha said (as grimly as she could as she was having a hard time not laughing), “Use your new powers wisely, Grasshopper.” 

With Enid's initiation over, the girls nonchalantly retired to the kitchen to discuss whether or not YuSa's observations truly meant that they were becoming Hallular, and if so, how they might be grateful to those who were making said Hallularity possible. 

Having been so abruptly attacked and then abandoned, Enid stood in the middle of the floor with a bewildered expression. Bess, who had come in only a moment or two after Enid, came over and put her arm over Enid's shoulder, startling her rather badly when she did, as Enid was now a bit jumpy. 

Bess laughed and said, “If it makes you feel any better, I earned my wings about a month ago; you are now a part of the inner circle.” 

“What? Why didn't you tell me about this?!” Enid exclaimed. 

“Because, Grasshopper, you must earn your wings through purity and innocence, not to mention that it is more fun as a surprise” Bess replied with a mischievous grin.

Harey's Coffin
The Crumpets had many goals for themselves, things such as successfully promoting Looking-Glass; opening more stages for LG studentens, Hallyu, and all artists; developing a résumé as rich as SNSD's; becoming variety show queens; and deep down inside, they longed to become an indelible part of Halloween. So when it was suggested that they had a foot in the door to becoming Hallular, they became even more stricken with pumpkin-fever. As such, their heads were spinning with ideas and enthusiasm, so they called Dean Eobseo to see if they could have an impromptu meeting with him. He was available, so the girls grabbed their managers and headed over to Ravenhurst. When the Dean greeted them at the door, he asked Enid, whose hair was standing on end, if she was okay. 

“Oh yes, I am quite well,” she replied. 

Bess leaned in and told the Dean, “She earned her wings just moments ago.” 

With an empathetic tone, the Dean said to Enid, “I will get you some chamomile tea to help calm your nerves.”

After everyone was mostly settled in the drawing room, the girls began excitedly throwing out their ideas. 

Bess, letting Enid sip her tea, intervened, “Ahem, ladies, you are all talking at once. Perhaps Tabitha could give the Dean a synopsis of your thoughts.” 

As the Dean is a bit squirrelly himself, and he is also way into Halloween, he probably could have sat there all day listening to them and, quite possibly, he would have understood most of it. Nonetheless, the Crumpets quickly became more businesslike, and Tabitha calmly shared their ideas. The first and biggest was that they wanted to do a “HallowUnder” show, which would be held in the southern hemisphere, six months after Halloween so that it would take place when it was fall Down-Under. 

Dean Eobseo absolutely loved the idea, but thought it was a very grand plan, especially considering that it was only the girl’s rookie year, they still needed to become profitable, and they had yet to even have their other-side debut. Having no intention of doing or saying anything that would derail their enthusiasm or curb their creative flow, the Dean was supportive, and rather than giving them an absolute answer, he simply offered suggestions on ways that they could start taking steps toward obtaining this goal. 

Satisfied with how well their “HallowUnder” idea was received, and by no means being put off by the Dean’s comments on how much work it would require (they love what they do, so it really isn’t work to them), the girls moved onto a more immediate topic: their big Halloween show. They had a number of ideas related to the show, but one in particular was directly connected to the Dean. You see, Dean Eobseo has a rather extensive car collection, in which there are two 1959 Cadillac Superior hearses, as well as a black, 1959 Cadillac limousine, all of which they were hoping to use for their transportation for the show. When Tabitha asked the Dean about this, he very calmly, and seemingly without giving it any thought, said no. 

Given the value of the vehicles, and that they didn’t necessarily meet the school’s rigid safety requirements, the girls weren’t surprised to have their idea rejected, but they were surprised by how casually the Dean turned them down. 

Also surprising was Tinsley’s reaction, which was to blurt out, “But what about Harey’s coffin?!” whereupon she quickly covered her mouth. 

Everyone sat motionless for a moment, staring at one another. Since the other members had no idea what was going on, their eyes darted back and forth between the Dean and Tinsley, who also didn’t seem to know what to do.

Finally, Tabitha, who didn’t feel comfortable calling out Dean Eobso on this, focused on Tinsley, exclaiming, “Tinsley Ann, what is going on here?!” 

Tinsley struggled to keep her mouth shut and turned a bit pink with the strain. With everyone staring at her, waiting for her head to implode, she let out a little squeak. 

At this point the Dean accepted that the jig was up and addressed the group, “Tinsley, it’s okay, you can start breathing again. I will tell them about our secret.”

Tinsley gasped for air, saying, “Aigo (pronounced ah-eye-go), this is why I should never go to Vegas!”

Dean Eobseo laughed and shook his head, saying, “Tinsley, my dear, you may have let the cat out of the bag, but I am very impressed that you managed to keep a Harey-related secret for nearly an entire month!” 

He then proceeded to explain that he had wanted to surprise them by having the hearses and limo pick them up for the big show, rather than one of the school’s busses. The girls would ride in the limo while their managers would ride in the hearses (which only have the front bench seat for the upright passengers). The Dean, who would have pretended to be going to the auditorium earlier, would instead be in one of the coffins. 

“Wow, this is sounding pretty darn cool!” Kari exclaimed. 

“But how is Tinsley in on it?” Yulia chimed in inquisitively. 

The Dean continued, “Well, I would be in one coffin and Harey would be in the other. We would, upon arrival at the show, rise up out of the coffins like Jack Skellington rising up from his sleigh coffin. Because of this, the effects department had some serious engineering work to do that would require 'borrowing' Harey from time to time. I knew that sneaking him away without Tinsley knowing would be impossible, so she needed to be in on the act.” 

Because Tinsley has an abysmal poker face and is terrible at keeping secrets, everyone felt that she had done a surprisingly good job. 

“Oh my gosh!” Sarah exclaimed, “Tinsley knew that Harey was involved, and managed to keep quiet about it. Way to go, Buttercup!” 

At this point, the girls would normally have gone nuts on Tinsley, praising her for almost pulling off such an epic deception. Instead they all — including Tinsley — looked at Sarah and exclaimed, “Buttercup!?”

Orange Carpet
In Zeitgeist, Halloween kicks off with a parade and festival, followed by the big show at the Civic Auditorium, or the “Iron Lady,” as the locals call it. This is the very show that the Crumpets were headlining for their other-side debut. During the last few days leading up to the show, the girls spent a great deal of time at the Iron Lady, rehearsing as best they could, while a new ceiling made of ultra-lightweight video panels (made by one of Dean Eobseo’s companies) were being installed. The distractions caused by the work in the auditorium was however well worth it because the panels — the first of their kind in the world — were going to play a role in the Crumpets’ performance. By the time the big day arrived, everything came together so that the Iron Lady, which was already a world class facility, had a new and rather exciting feature; the Crumpets and all of the other stage acts were primed and chomping at the bit; the weather was perfect; and the citizens of Zeitgeist were eager for the festivities to begin.

Because the parade, which the Crumpets were to appear in, started in the early afternoon, the girls were on the ready-line at precisely 11:11. Perfectly groomed and wearing their debut outfits, they stood proudly while Bess carefully inspected them. 

When she was done, she reported to Enid, “The Crumpets are ReWiAb (Ready, Willing, and Able).” 

To which Enid replied, “TIMoExNew (That Is Most Excellent News).” 

The girls giggled and Kari said, “I think we may need to take their wings back... Oh, sorry, ITWeMaNeToTaTWiBa.” 

Amused by Kari’s snarcasm, the girls filed out to the limo, with Enid giving Kari a sharp swat on her apple hip as she passed by.

Just as the Crumpets’ motorcade rolled out from the campus, the festival’s jack-o-lantern-styled blimp — a long-time crowd favorite, which hovers over the parade filming the action — rose up from in-between the shorter buildings at the edge of downtown.

“Look, there’s Jack-o-Blimp!” Analey exclaimed excitedly as she pointed toward it. 

Tinsley peered out from the limo and said wistfully, “This is the first year that we weren’t there for its launch.” 

It only took a few minutes for the motorcade to wind through the empty streets (most everyone was at the parade route), so before the girls could get to feeling too sad about missing out on the festivities, they were pulling up to become a major part of it all. 

At the starting point of the parade, event tents had been set up, creating an orange carpet (as opposed to a red carpet) VIP arrival center. Here, VIPs were greeted by the press before they boarded their floats or other conveyances, which were lined up behind the tents. So that the spectators along the route could see what was happening at the arrival center, jumbotrons also lined the route, along with lots of speakers and roving announcers. For those who could not be downtown, the whole thing, including the big show, was televised live, so that most anyone who was interested got to see the Crumpets’ grand arrival.

The girls were intentionally the last VIPs to arrive. When their limo, sandwiched between the two hearses, pulled up, the Familiars, who had been, at the behest of the girls, given a special viewing area, began chanting for their fledgling idols. Before the Crumpets got out, Bess and Enid emerged from the hearses, and with some help, loaded the coffins onto church trucks and wheeled them into position on each side of the orange carpet. With the Familiars enthusiastically, but civilly, cheering them on, the Crumpets emerged from the limo, each having her name shouted out when she appeared. Standing next to the limo and in-between the coffins, the girls posed for pictures. 

As the cameras clicked away, the coffins began slowly opening, whereupon Ava and her Familiars shouted, “Oh no! Look out!” (They were in on the act.) 

At this moment, the girls all struck overly surprised 'Home Alone' poses as they watched the coffins open. 

Harey and Dean Eobseo rose up out of them, and once they were both fully upright, the Crumpets did a “ta-da” kind of thing, holding their arms up and exclaiming, “Harey?! Dean Eobseo!?” 

Originally, of course, the girls were supposed to actually have been startled and surprised by the coffin bit, which would have been good for videos. However, the new, campy, fake astonishment version worked great for still photos, which ended up as front-page pictures on all of Zeitgeist’s newspapers (fortunately there wasn’t any other real news that day). 

Once Harry and Dean Eobseo had fully risen, Jimmy, dressed as Doctor Finkelstein, rolled up and said, “Aha-ha, there you are. I think we need to investigate why all of these Elpoeps are gathering here. This should be exceedingly simple, I think. Come with me.” 

After giving the press a chance to get some photos, which were made all the more fun because Jack-o-Blimp had circled into a position where its giant face was hovering squarely in the background, Victor sat down in his coffin as if he were driving it, and he, along with Harry, were wheeled behind Jimmy into the staging area. Meanwhile the girls stopped to pay special attention to the Familiars, and to have some group photos taken with them.

The Crumpet’s orange carpet arrival stunt was quite a success, and because it was on all of the parade jumbotrons, the whole of downtown was electrified by what was promising to be an over-the-top Halloween kick-off. Back at the starting area, the girls and their associates began boarding their float. The main LGC float, which was very Halloweentown-esque, had a building that looked just like Thornbury Hall, including the clock tower with its long windows displaying the gears and other working bits inside. Harey was placed on top of the miniature Thornbury Hall, while the Crumpets, their managers, Jimmy, and Dean Eobseo were all staged around the perimeter of the tiny town. 

While they were getting settled in, Analey exclaimed, “Look, there goes Zero!” (Zero is Jack Skellington's ghost dog and is a giant balloon that always leads the parade). 

“This is the first year that we aren’t going to get to cheer for Zero when he comes down the street,” Tinsley said with an air of disappointment. 

Sarah leaned in and said, “A little nervous there, Buttercup?” 

“Why do you keep calling me Buttercup?!” Tinsley snapped back. 

“Because it bugs you,” Sarah calmly replied. 

Tinsley sat back in a bit of a huff, wondering why her Maknae was giving her the business. 

Just as their float began to move out into the parade, Tinsley suddenly blurted out, “Well, you aren’t a very good badass.” 

Sarah ignored this, and to make matters worse for Tinsley, Sarah was smiling like she was on TV or something. With no small amount of frustration Tinsley demanded to know what the deal was. 

Sarah coolly answered by saying, “What are you doing right now?” 

“What am I doing?! I am on a float, smiling and waving like an idiot,” Tinsley growled back. 

Sarah smiled and winked at her. 

Tinsley suddenly realized that they were indeed rolling along, waving to the crowd, and that Sarah had simply been irritating her to distract her from her nerves. (This task usually falls to Tabitha, but she was sitting on the opposite side of the float). 

Tinsley blushed a bit and said, “Thanks, and actually, you really are a pretty good badass.” 

She flashed Sarah a ‘heart’ sign, and they happily carried on with their parade-waving.

Kkab-Kari
The parade was a success and everyone, including Tinsley, had a fun time. Even though there were over a hundred thousand people at the parade, the Iron Lady only seats twenty thousand, so most of the crowd would stay at the parade’s end at Capitol Park, for the festival’s rides, food booths (gotta get a C-CAS pancake on a stick), and to watch the show on the jumbotrons. Meanwhile, the performers and those who scored tickets to the show headed into the auditorium. 

Since the Crumpets would be the last act of the night, they had some time to kill, so they went up to the “Tree House” (a deck on top of the main control booth), to hang out and watch the crowd gather, as well as to take in the first acts of the night. The big show was being hosted by both Jenny Nileyh, who dressed as IU as a fuzzy bunny (definitely worth looking up), and Norad-Z, who dressed as a bumblebee in a tuxedo. After JeNo did an opening comedy bit, they introduced the first act of the night: the Raspberries, who killed it. Following the Raspberries  was a lot of entertainment before the Crumpets went on, and there were a lot of LG students for the girls to cheer for. However, duty (actually Enid) called, and the Crumpets had to go to the ready area before the opening acts were even half over.

Backstage, the girls met with Dean Eobseo and EinBe, had their hair and make-up refreshed, and got seriously squirrely with nervous excitement. At this point, Kkab-Kari (hyper Kari) made her first appearance of the evening when, whilst having her hair fixed, saw herself on the tele waving to Jack-o-Blimp from their float. She screamed — nearly giving stylist Chanmi a heart attack. 

Wiggling around in her seat, Kari started rapping, “I’m on the tele, yo, Jack-o-Blimp’s smilin’ at me, yo, my swag on the tele…” 

“Is Chanmi having a heart attack because Kari startled her, or because Kari’s rap is so scary,” Yulia observed snarcastically. 

“Scary and scarring!” Tinsley added. 

“You guys are just jelly! Jelly I say!” Kari exclaimed as she hopped up, grabbed Chanmi, and started dancing around, spastically singing, “Big show, big big show, really big show, I’m gonna puke, puke, puke.” 

Amazingly, and despite Kari’s attack, Chanmi agreed to be the Crumpets’ stylist for their “Goodbye Halloween” show a week later even though this experience had fulfilled the project requirements for her Performer Management class.

As is usual, the other members quickly caught Kari’s dork bug and also started spazzing out. Because they didn’t have any onstage obligations, Bess, Enid, and Dean Eobseo decided it was time to leave the girls to their pre-show jitters. After giving their girls hugs and words of encouragement, they headed to the control booth. 

As they passed by, Chanmi gave Enid a “Seriously, you are going to leave me here with these lunatics?” look. 

Enid patted her on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry they won’t bite. Very hard.” 

After taking a few steps toward the door, she doubled-back and grabbed Chanmi, saying, “Just kidding, you’d better come with us. It is definitely NOT safe here.” 

Overhearing this, the Crumpets all turned, put their hands up like cat claws, wrinkled their noses, and snarled at Chanmi and Enid. Of course they quickly followed this with grins and ‘heart’ signs.

Despite there being several journalists, photographers, and videographers still in the room, the girls felt a sudden sense of isolation. Tabitha called them into a circle where they all held hands and leaned in, resting their heads together in the middle. A black-and-white picture of this moment was hung in a prominent place at both the Iron Lady and Thornbury Hall, and has become an iconic symbol of the bond that is not only shared by the Crumpets, but also by LG students in general. This was the sweet moment of validating comradery that Tabitha had tried to create the night before their debut. Of course, Kari shot that particular moment in the foot when she started that pillow fight. This time, however, Kari yielded to the rush of emotions and was the last to break the circle. 

Tabitha immediately realized that Kari was verklempt, so she hugged her and said, “Thanks for getting into the moment, but remember that our E-Wamm team is on the other side of the auditorium by now.” 

Kari looked up and said, “Meh, it’s a Halloween show. I am just going as Alice Cooper.” 

Tabitha laughed and the other members shouted, “Crumpets Fighting!” 

Kari quickly turned Kkab-Kari back on, and they all began yelping and prancing excitedly as they made their way down a long hall to an elevator platform that would lift them up onto the stage. 

While the girls stood, fidgeting anxiously on their marks, Analey looked at Kari and shook her head, murmuring critically, “So emotional there, Alice.” 

Kari rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. 

Even though AnKa fist bumped and shot each other ‘heart’ signs, Analey said, “I’m gonna get it for that, yes?” 

“Oh yes, yes you are,” Kari replied, with a mischievous grin.

Spinning Sky
When the last act before the Crumpets had finished, NZ and Jenny announced that there would be an intermission so the audience could stretch their legs, visit the privy, and so forth. To make sure that everyone was back in their seats in a timely manner, a video of an old-timey stopwatch was shown on the screens throughout the Iron Lady, counting down how long people had to do their business. 

When the clock reached zero, the lights in the auditorium lights began to dim. Once things were very nearly dark, a purple glow began emanating from behind the words “GothyCrumpets” that were hanging behind the stage. Just as the letters became legible, a fairly loud mechanical sound could be heard coming from overhead. The crowd looked up to see that the roof of the Iron Lady was opening like a giant automobile moonroof, clanking and creaking as it went. This was, of course, only a CG effect displayed on the newly installed video panels. However, due to the sound, the realism of the graphics, and a few other effects, like cool air being blown in from above, many people in the audience were convinced that a retractable dome had been added to the auditorium. 

By the time the roof was fully 'open,' the Crumpets’ name was completely illuminated, and orange backlights were beginning to silhouette their Halloween Town set. Above, a beautiful, starry sky could be seen, with a few wispy clouds passing in front of a bright full moon, while the lighted windows of downtown’s tallest buildings peered in over the edge of the auditorium’s walls. This view, while based on what one would actually see if the roof of the Iron Lady had really been opened, was enhanced a fair bit, giving the scene an epic, dream-like feel. The stage, still devoid of performers, glowed eerily, and appeared to have far more depth — as if it stretched out indefinitely away from the audience. Overhead, from 'outside,' a bright flash of light came from the direction of the LGC. Soon a long, thin cloud, like the contrail of an airplane, appeared in the sky, passing in front of the moon. Once the cloud was directly overhead, it began spreading out and rotating. Spiraling and boiling, the cloud dropped down like the funnel of a tornado, with lighting flashing and crackling inside the descending cone. Soon the entire sky was a spinning storm, from which virtual bats descended, seemingly scattering and roosting in the auditorium’s rafters. The tail of the descending funnel appeared to be coming down right into the theater, where it turned and dropped in a pillar of fog onto the stage. The column of vapor quickly spread out when it hit the floor. From inside the fogbank came six flashes of light, whereupon the cloud was blown out toward the audience, only to be lifted by fans at the last second, so that it passed just over their heads.

There, on the stage, stood the Crumpets, silhouetted like their name and the tiny town. A hush came over the crowd. Softly the music for Danny Elfman’s “This is Halloween” began to play. As the Crumpets began singing their Brizzy Voices-style version of what most everyone (in Zeitgeist anyway) considers to be THE theme song for Halloween, stage lights commenced front lighting them. Despite there being only six rather diminutive girls on the stage, the intensity and confidence of their performance made Halloween Town come alive. The audience was wholly drawn into the Halloween world, with the Crumpets as their tour guides. After they had finished the opening song, the girls graciously received the audience’s excited applause, and immediately slid into another song — one of their own — “Gothy Crumpets.”

Having dropped a potent version of “Gothy” (which would become a Halloween anthem in its own right), they introduced themselves, along with Harey, and also a pair of big black cat plushies (modeled after KySi), which were a tribute to the Familiars. Next came shout-outs to their managers, Dean Eobseo, their friends, and families. Once they had given themselves and the audience a chance to catch their breath, the Crumpets went back to the business of singing and dancing.

During their introductions, the virtual sky had cleared, returning to stars and a full moon. On the stage, which was much bigger than any at the LGC, the Crumpets had some fun extras, like a rack of very large bells, and a pipe organ (which was actually electronic, but you really couldn’t tell). These instruments were used in “Tam O’Shan,” “Bibity,” and a pre-release performance of “Dark Bells.” For these songs, Yulia played the pipe organ, while Speck, the drummer from the forthcoming Screaming Beets, played the bells. These seemingly minor additions really gave their show a dark, heavy tone that was simultaneously fun and playful.

Silliness
Speaking of playful, as you might expect, in between songs there was plenty of mayhem and general silliness. Some of the shenanigans, such as Jimmy rolling through the set from time to time, pretending to be looking for Sally, was scripted, whereas others, like Kari’s balloon revenge on Analey, was not. If you didn’t get to attend the show, or you missed watching it on the tele, Kari’s balloon bit involved using static electricity to stick an orange balloon to Analey’s hair. 

Kari had been looking for an opportunity to get Analey back for teasing her about crying during the group hug, but her chance wouldn’t come until their second D-Con of the show. Because it took Kari such a long time to exact her revenge, Analey, who had spent the first part of the show nervously avoiding her, had now let her guard down. While the girls were talking to the audience, an orange balloon that had been dropped from the ceiling (along with many other balloons) at the end of “Gothy,” found its way up onto the stage. Kari saw the balloon out of the corner of her eye and then looked at Analey, who was at that point telling a story about one of her many bubble-blowing incidents. It was too perfect. Analey was not only distracted, but her hair looked a bit frizzy. 

Kari picked up the balloon and surreptitiously rubbed it on her velvet pants. With the balloon fully charged, she sidled over, and carefully placed it on top of Analey’s head, causing some of Analey’s hair to jump up and cling to it. Sensing Kari’s presence, Analey turned and looked at her with suspicion, whilst at the same time warily sidestepping away. Thinking that she had successfully avoided whatever Kari was up to, and also thinking that the crowd was really amused by her story, she confidently carried on. Much to Analey’s horror, she eventually caught a glimpse of herself on one of the jumbotrons. With the balloon still stuck to her head and still telling her story, Analey chased after Kari. Unfortunately Analey was unarmed, but Tabitha took care of that, smoothly handing off a water bottle to her as she passed by (the Crumpets have a lot of experience with, and protocols for, water bottle fights).

“Buttercup, Buttercup…”
Even though this show was not much longer, nor was it any higher energy than their other debut shows, the stage at the Iron Lady was much larger, and also had two fairly long crowd-servicing runways. This meant that the girls had to cover more ground than they were used to, which led to a little more fatigue than usual. As they were lining up for their last song of the night, Tinsley inexplicably wandered off of her mark, and ambled to the opposite side of the stage. Since they were doing fine on time, the other members simply watched her, shrugging and using hand gestures to let the crowd know that Tinsley had apparently lost her mind. Once she arrived at not-her-mark, a puzzled look crossed her face, and she began sauntering back to where she came from. 

“Where ya goin?” Tabitha asked her as she passed by. 

Without looking up, Tinsley nonchalantly replied, while fecklessly waving her hand in the air, “Oh, I think I am supposed to be over here somewhere.” 

Now, it is well known to the Crumpets (and most anyone at the LGC) that Tinsley is prone to the occasional fatigue-induced zone-out. Generally speaking, she can quickly snap out of it, but this time she didn’t seem to be coming out if it very fast. 

Tabitha felt that a little encouragement was in order and started chanting “Tinsley, Tinsley…” 

The crowd, starting with the Familiars, joined the chant, which undoubtedly would have done the trick. However, Sarah saw a chance to needle Tinsley, and since she was in an evil maknae mood, she started working on changing the chant to, “Buttercup, Buttercup…,” to which the other members and Familiars quickly converted. Hearing this, Tinsley immediately popped out of it, and promptly started the final water bottle fight of the night. 

Because there were quite a few Lumplings (small children) in the crowd, the girls couldn’t go overtime by very much, so Tabitha had to put a stop to the water bottle battle, even though she was doing unusually well. (Tabitha may be uber-smart and crazy talented, but her shenanigan skills are typically a bit feeble.) At any rate, a quick call to duty from their leader was all it took for the Crumpets to snap back to a more professional demeanor. They dropped “Bibity” and brought the house down (they couldn’t very well blow the roof off as it was already 'open'). 

Having thoroughly captivated and entertained the crowd, the girls said their goodbyes and disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was a bit unfortunate that this show had to have a specific end time, thus precluding the possibility of an encore. Because of this Crumpets had to, once again, wait for the revback to know for sure if they had successfully killed it or not.

When morning came, other than a predictably bad review from Eugene, the Crumpets woke to excellent feedback. Gathered in the dorm’s dining room, the girls, their managers, Dean Eobseo, and KySi sat around the table reading reviews (well, not KySi, as they can’t read, but they do sit on chairs at the table). In contrast to the morning after their LGC debut, this morning was filled with happy tears. 

For example, when it was Sarah’s turn to read a review, which was not Eugene’s, and instead was one of the most glowing, it caused her burst into happy tears crying, “It doesn’t make sense!” 

Everyone was a bit confused, so Tabitha, who was sitting next to her, leaned in and softly asked her, “What doesn’t make sense?” 

Half crying and half laughing, Sarah replied, “Why I can’t seem to read reviews without crying!”

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