#isidore.

Let's do the latter thing first, actually:

THE TRACK LIST

Define Me (feat. MAIKA) - nostraightanswer

the dots (feat. AVANNA) [Unreleased Self-Remix] - nostraightanswer

hourhand (feat. Otomachi Una) - suzie

The Sim (feat. Kasane Teto AI) - Jam2go

WILDCARD (feat. Kasane Teto AI) - KIRA

What Should I Say First (feat. SynthV Natalie) - CircusP

SUPERSHOT (feat. VoiSona SELENA) - Mellowcle

With This Love (feat. Hatsune Miku) - nostraightanswer

Room for a Fantasy (feat. Hatsune Miku) - nostraightanswer

Cottonmouth [Unreleased] - nostraightanswer

Moving Forward (feat. EmpathP) [Unreleased] - nostraightanswer

Juggling a very busy semester of college, the track list was ultimately decided just a week before the show, but I think people really enjoyed the selection overall! I opened with two songs from previous albums: Define Me from SYNTECH+, and an unreleased remix of the dots from specters. From there I immediately jumped into playing a bunch of songs that have been recent favorites: hourhand, The Sim, WILDCARD, What Should I Say First, and SUPERSHOT. In the case of The Sim, I had also considered playing a couple of other songs from Jam's Crash Test album: Same TBH and Edutainment. I then wrapped up the VOCALOID segment playing With This Love, my runner-up entry for the Miku Expo 2021 Song Contest, then Room for a Fantasy, which ultimately won the most recent contest- I'm still in shock and awe, and so incredibly honored.

The big surprise was really the last couple of songs, Cottonmouth and Moving Forward, which notably do not feature VOCALOIDs at all, but instead the voices of myself and one of my long-time best friends, EmpathP (also the voice of VOCALOID DAINA). When I introduced them to the audience as brand new songs* that I sang myself, someone shouted if I would be singing them live. I had not been planning on it, and when I explained such, I was met with chants from the audience to just go for it and ultimately gave in. I was worn out from bouncing around and throwing my body every which way, but I absolutely gave it my best effort- the only thing I had ever promised anyone leading up to it.

I'm really, really glad I did, actually! While I didn't have files prepared with the main vocal removed or lowered, people seemed to hear my live voice over or blending in with the original and responded really, really well. I got a lot of compliments after my set and the overall show on my singing voice in particular, including from fellow performers and fans new and old. This was deeply encouraging for several reasons, but in particular because my next album- which I hope to release this year- hardly features vocal synths at all, if any. In a sense, I hope my live performance made people want to hear more of my singing- a couple more thoughts on this later.

*: An older version of Cottonmouth was part of my Digital Stars 2023 Online set.

POST-SHOW THOUGHTS

Holy fuck. Apparently I was the only person performing that night who didn't swear on stage, and I might have even apologized for thinking I wasn't allowed to LOL. I genuinely can't remember. It was all a blur. But it sounds like something I would do. Regardless, I shouted "I FUCKING DID IT" at the top of my lungs in wristbands-only after the show was over, and said "Holy fuck" about once every ten seconds when I got back to my hotel that night.

Jamie Paige (of FLAVOR FOLEY, headlining the Digital Stars series this year) was, to my genuine surprise, one of my loudest and most excited hype-people of the evening. I had been acquainted with her since the Skype Days™️ but had never really interacted much with her until more recently. The way she believed in me like all of my other friends believed in me made me feel like I could fucking do anything, dude. And the hug I received after my set from her is unforgettable.

I'd briefly met Jamie, Vane Lily, MonochroMenace, and KAT in Chicago before the first Miku Expo shows, but I hadn't had much time to actually hang around too long that day. In New York / Newark, I was able to spend about an hour hanging out with Jamie (as well as Sleppuccino and ODDEEO, who I'd been closer with for longer) in my hotel room two days before DigiStars, and I attended an unofficial meetup at the American Dream mall with Menace, KAT, and several others (I think Bedrock [aka isidore.] was there but I am struggling to remember things clearly) the day of Miku Expo Newark. I was so grateful to be able to hang out and chitchat with everyone at length during the DigiStars sound check / rehearsal, and I felt really really welcome in the space for the first time in a few years. Thank you all so much for your kindness and warmth. 💖

The entire time I was traveling with Aki (EmpathP), and I genuinely don't think I would have survived the trip without her- she took on the brunt of incidental food and travel expenses (Lyft, Amtrak), and while I didn't exactly come to NYC with zero cash (indeed I handed Aki several bills to pay her back), there were several major expenses that drained my debit account FAST (an absurdly priced hotel incidental authorization nearly took me out tbh, but that's reverted now so it's all good).

I was invited to KBBQ after DigiStars by 4M-P, and holy shit there were so many other people it was hard to keep track. 4M-P, Bedrock, Menace, KAT, Menace's BF, ODDEEO and Sleppu, Ultimashadow, oh my god so many people I can't remember names of right now but you were all so nice to travel with for my first subway ride (thank you for dinging me through the gate LOL).

There was a good chance I would have actually withdrawn from DigiStars entirely due to enormous, insurmountable waves of anxiety in the prior months due to increasingly poor physical and mental health. I struggled to keep up with academics, physical fitness, diet, and so much more for a variety of reasons, and I had felt a lot of pressure all the way up to the hours before the show... If it weren't for my various friends throughout a number of social circles supporting me, this incredible night would have never happened for me. Thank you all so much.

I owe a lot to the Miku Expo and Digital Stars teams, from selecting Room for a Fantasy and creating such an amazing arrangement for it (wish I could've met the band), to inviting me to perform and giving me a chance I probably barely deserved or had the experience for, but trusting me to just do my best, which was all I could really promise anyway. Super big thanks to Riki, who handled most of my more casually framed questions, requests, and other sorts of confusion (probably to a level of annoyance) with incredible patience the whole time, and made a significant effort to make me feel more at ease.

I do think people liked the singing enough that next time I do a performance, I'd like to try doing that "glorified karaoke" set I was so afraid people wouldn't like, or at least deliberately planning that into a set comparable to my DigiStars performance. People absolutely want their VOCALOID content still- can't take all of that away- but I think with more practice and deliberate rehearsal, a proper vocal performance would be received even better than one where I'm trying to sing over a full-volume pre-recorded lead vocal.

Simultaneously, next time I'm invited to do a performance, I would like to NOT have a full or more-than-full course load in the parallel academic semester. Only having one actual week to prepare the set forced me to simplify my plans so greatly and not being able to practice an additional week certainly forced me to simplify further. That said, I don't know if the actual "format" of the set would have changed much- more "casual DJ" and less "club DJ".

Also simultaneously, next time I'm invited to do a performance, I want to be hot and shirtless. is that too much to ask

To everyone in the audience, thank you so much for your enthusiasm during my performance. If I gave you any reason to pay attention to what I'm doing next, I'm so happy to have achieved just that. But more than anything else, your energy and encouragement helped me be brave doing something I've literally never done before- the last time I'd performed on any stage at all was almost 15 years ago (at least, in non-impromptu fashion), and I'd never, ever performed on a stage solo. You were all amazing.

And, finally... if I could do it all over again, I think I would. Maybe better this time. More thought out. Less juggling college. But I had a lot of fun, and it was all worth it in the end.

Thank you so much for coming to my TED talk

On the scale of bad ideas Isidore has had in his life, this wasn’t the worst one he’s had, admittedly. He knew that the rumors of gambling guinea pigs at this local vegan restaurant had all signs pointing to a huge sign glowing with arrows saying “Bad Idea!”, but he went anyway. He was too curious, as he always was. No matter how hard he tried to keep distrusting and aloof, he was a curious fae by nature. That’s how he wound up at Wheekly Special on a Friday night, sitting at a table surrounded by guinea pigs wearing weird poker visors. How did they get those on in the first place? How were they holding their cards? 

How did poker even work? All these questions flooded the muse’s mind as his gaze flitted about the table, trying to keep a neutral poker face as best he could.

The truth was, these guinea pigs were kicking Isidore’s ass at poker. Izzy had no idea how this game worked. He was just trying to make the numbers count in a sequence. He had an ace, a king, and a jack, which made him feel like he was onto something. Maybe if he got a queen… he could win something? He had no idea. This was a terrible idea, and he was on the verge of losing his commission money. But the guinea pigs! They were gambling! 

He barely heard the door to the store open as he stared down at his poker chips. “Uh. I’ll raise.” He decided, throwing a random amount of chips into the center with a shrug. Yeah, that felt right.

__

Rumors ran faster in Wicked's Rest than they did in most places, that much Daiyu knew. She liked it that way. For someone like her – who made her income through shady methods – it was good to pick up on these sounds, as they often pushed her in the direction of one of her targets, made her aware of a potential target or helped her find a new customer. Sometimes though, it was just funny. 

Like the rumor that there were guinea pigs playing poker. She wasn't a loyal patron of Wheekly Special by any means (not enough grease on their menu), but she was fond of the old ladies running the place all the same. So, through her incidental visits, she'd picked up on the rumors, and there was no doubt about it in her mind: she had to see it for herself. 

Daiyu kinda knew how to play poker. She'd done it before — her dad and brother had liked playing it with other rangers, sitting around the table like those dogs in the painting. She'd been shit at it, the few times she'd participated. You have the opposite of a poker face, her brother had told her, which had been true. All she remembered was the card combinations. 

That was enough. Guinea pigs had to be easier to beat than her dad and his friends. (To be fair, most things were easier to beat than her father.) She walked into the shop after glancing inside, her dark vision making it easier to see what was going on. Someone with regular, human sight might not have seen what she did. “Got room for another?” She sauntered up to the table after pulling off her coat and hat. Rain water glistened on both.  

“Once this round's done,” said a guinea pig. Daiyu beamed with amusement. She'd not learned anything about this growing up, and her shifter tingles weren't going off either. She opted to linger at the side of the table, eyes falling on the human among them with a bemused expression. “Oh,” the guinea pig added, “Entry fee is fifty dollars or five pounds of carrots — with greens.”

__

As the woman walked in and stared at him in confusion, all Izzy could do in response was grin back. Despite losing his money, he was having the time of his life. The guinea pigs! Were playing! Poker! While fae did some comedic shit, this topped the charts. He appreciated a little chaotic mischief from time to time, and this was certainly meeting his criteria. 

Of course, the guinea pigs in question were no-nonsense. All they wanted was to play their poker and chew on some hay. They were in a mission, and all Izzy could do was join in with reckless enthusiasm (and a steep entrance fee). It was back to Izzy again. “Hit,” he spoke to the dealer pig, who threw a card at him. It was a queen. This had to be good, right? He kept his neutrality and nodded his head as the other pigs hit and raised and stayed their hands. 

“Alright, show those hands, boys.” The dealer said, and they all laid out their cards. Izzy blinked, then did as the others did. A few let out some squeaks. “That’s a royal flush, boy! And you said you don’t play poker.” The dealer said to Izzy who could only stare in amazement. “You win, take the pot.” Izzy grinned. He won?! Sweet! He scooped in the winnings with a happy nod. Now he’d play sparingly to keep his winnings. No way that was happening twice. 

“Alright, what’ll it be, carrots or cash?” The dealer asked the joining woman, speaking to her as if it were completely normal to converse with a guinea pig on a rainy Friday evening. At least Izzy was used to and thrived off of the absurdity of it all. 

__

Spending fifty dollars on something like this was a waste of money, she was well aware. Daiyu was also aware she might lose it and then some, as gambling was a losing game — but she was too intrigued by the speaking rodents holding cards to pass up the opportunity. It would have been better if she’d been able to throw in fifty carrots, but she hadn’t known that was an option. 

She watched as the guinea pigs and the sole human played their round of cards, wondering if the guy was cheating. A royal flush was real fucking rare, even she knew that. “Damn,” she muttered, watching the other take the pot with envy. She hadn’t come here to win, just to see the guinea pigs in action, but the desire to win was now spurred. 

She shook out her hair, pulling it up in a ponytail for focus. Daiyu moved to sit down, digging out her wallet and throwing a fifty dollar note on the table. “Forgot the carrots at home.” She hadn’t had carrots at home in quite some time. They were far from her vegetable of choice.

“Not a worry at all,” the guinea pig said, probably thinking of all the carrots fifty dollars could buy him, before he started dealing, “We’re playing Five-card draw.”

“Cool,” she said, as if she had any idea what that meant. “Hit me.” 

A squeak. “This ain’t blackjack.” 

Daiyu shrugged, laughed, “Duh.” She had no idea. Once the dealer was done, she picked up her five cards and squinted at them. “I’m Daiyu, by the way.” 

__

Izzy watched as Daiyu entered the next game, amusement shining in his eyes as she said the same thing he had and got the same response. Not that he knew what blackjack was either, of course. 

“We’re the pigs,” the dealer remarked, keeping things purposely vague. He sounded like an old-timey gangster from the 20s, in Izzy’s personal opinion. It really made everything that much better. “And the skinny one is Isidore,” another guinea pig offered up with a toss of his head in the fae’s direction. Izzy waved a hand in response, taking the remark on his physique in stride. 

More cards were doled out, and this time, Izzy had absolutely nothing. He didn’t get so lucky the second time, sadly. And while he could use magic to fix the game, he wasn’t about to get eyebrows raised in his direction. No way, not him. He tried to keep a perfect poker face, but instead he looked vaguely constipated. 

Izzy’s gaze flicked over to Daiyu, the only person whose facial expression he could have a shot at reading. Guinea pigs have perfect poker faces, after all. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” he mouthed as she caught his gaze. 

__

“Cool. Nice to meet you, pigs. Isidore.” Daiyu was very proud of herself for not commenting on what an old-timey name that was. She gave the other human at the table a smile, glad that there was someone else that was close to her size and biology here.

She stared at her five cards, blinking at the numbers and shapes. She remembered that two of the same counted as a pair, which the two threes in her hand probably were. Daiyu also knew that three was a low number — for all her lack of skills in maths, she at least held some basic knowledge.

She looked up from her cards, wondering what the next step was again. She figured one of the pigs would say. Her gaze fell on Isidore and she frowned as he spoke to her without words. “Me neither,” she said out loud, before returning to sorting her cards. She waited patiently to follow suit, when she felt the tiniest little nudge against her arm.

Looking to the side, she saw one of the pigs elbowing her. She forced herself not to laugh. “You start.” 

She stared at her stack of chips, and threw two in the middle of the table. “I bet this.” She didn’t know how much the chips represented, but figured that she might as well play. The pig after her called, throwing in two chips as well. Then it was Isidore’s turn.

__

Izzy felt instantly better in Daiyu’s presence. He wasn’t the only non-furry individual here. And while he still couldn’t trust that she was friendly, at least there was some camaraderie in their bipedal forms. He bowed his head towards her as she answered back. 

For a moment, he watched as everyone played, completely baffled as to what was going on. None of his cards matched, nor did they go up in any order. He truly had nothing this time. Daiyu said she didn’t know what was going on either, aloud to hear, and it caused the fae to snort a laugh in response, eyes falling back to his cards. 

Isidore stared at his hand for another moment, then over to the pig who had thrown in two chips. Was he calling? Was there another option? He had no idea. So he followed everyone’s lead and put two chips in as well. Follow the leader, that’s what he could do. 

The other pigs said words that made no sense to him, putting in chips. Some of them said nothing but seemed to communicate in squeaks. What in the world was going on? Izzy kept his cool, pretending he had every idea of what he was doing while silently pleading for a way out of this mess. He was so losing all his money if he didn’t find an excuse to leave.

__

Daiyu watched most of the players call, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. She had probably lowballed, which wasn’t like her — but she was no good at bluffing. Maybe her face of confusion could be considered a strategy. It really wasn’t. The only strategizing she did from time was in the woods.

She looked at the other human in the room, “Got a good hand?” She could at least try to prod a little bit. She gave a grin, then turned swiftly as one of the guinea pigs struck a match half the size of its body to light a cigar. Her nose crinkled, the smell overwhelming to her heightened senses if not reminiscent of her father and his friends.

“Kid, it’s your turn again,” the guinea pig who’d elbowed her before stated. She decided to call him orange, for the color of its fur. Orange looked at her, then murmured quieter: “You gotta trade. If you wanna.”

“Yeah, yeah, I knew that,” she said, nodding convincingly, before staring at her cards. “I wanna trade.” She looked around, the guinea pigs not yet satisfied. “Oh, right — two cards, that’s how many.” She’d keep her threes and her ace and figure it out from there. She looked at Isidore expectantly. “How ‘bout you?”

__

Oh, how Isidore wished he had any idea what was going on. He barely played card games to begin with; far too many rules and not enough care to pay attention to them as they were explained to him. The guinea pigs had even attempted to explain to him how poker worked, but he felt his eyes glaze over after a minute of explanation. The pigs had totally picked up on that and tried to play it to their advantage, but that last game had seen Izzy turn out extraordinary lucky. He was thinking about calling this round his last, that way he could walk away with more money than he put in, if nothing else. There was nothing about gambling that appealed to the fae.

As Daiyu tried to figure out what he had or if it was any good (it wasn’t), he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s happening,” he freely admitted. The others could take advantage of his foolishness all he wanted, at least he could walk away from this experience with the knowledge that he had played poker with guinea pigs. Izzy’s gaze turned over toward the pig lighting a cigar, finding himself entranced by the fact that the thing was as long as the guinea pig was. The guy caught him staring and let out a menacing squeak in his direction, which only caused Izzy to hide his face in his cards to hid his amusement, not wanting to piss off the guinea pig further than he already had. They took this game way too seriously.

As Daiyu traded some cards, Izzy stared at his own hand and decided trading did sound like a good idea. The small eyes of the guinea pigs turned from Daiyu over to him, and he realized he needed to make a play, only for Daiyu to give a verbal cue. Taking advantage of people like him and Daiyu were absolutely how the guinea pigs stayed in business. He was bringing carrots next time. It felt cheaper than fifty bucks. He had no idea how much carrots cost, but it couldn’t be fifty dollars, right? He didn’t eat food, he wouldn’t know. Especially not carrots. 

“Uh. Trade. Three cards.” he looked toward the dealer, who traded him out. Two fives and three other cards that didn’t equate to anything. At least, it didn’t feel like it did. Still, he feigned indifference and nodded his head toward the next person. When did this game end? Was this an eternal game of poker? He wanted to go home at some point tonight. 

__

As the other human at the table admitted that he had no idea what he was doing, Daiyu gained a little bit of confidence. She might not know what she was doing either, but at least she had a tiny bit of knowledge in this area on her side. She knew the right card combinations and the guinea pig next to her, no matter how annoyed with her, was at least willing to help her in remembering the rules.

Isidore traded as well, the guinea pig next to him passed and the next two traded too. She eagerly swapped her cards out, taking her new ones and looking at them with excitement. She sorted her cards and tried to keep her face in check, but it was hard. After all, a fucking guinea pig had just handed her some cards, and the one next to her was smoking a cigar. The sight was hilarious, but the smell was definitely not kind on her senses.

She stared at her cards — another three! That made three threes. The other card she’d gotten was an eight, which was absolutely useless. But three threes wasn’t bad, was it? She placed her cards down and leaned back in her seat, trying to catch a steal from her smoking neighbor. He looked at her furiously, tucking the cards against his chest. Daiyu feigned innocence. 

She realized they were all looking at her, the pigs. She cleared her throat, coughed some smoke away and said, “Right, right. I don’t bet any more … check? Is that it? Yes.” The smoker next to her nodded. “I check.” 

__

As Izzy stared at his cards in total confusion, the guinea pig beside him finally took mercy on him. “Hey. Kid.” The pig whispered and beckoned him to lean in toward him. “You should fold. That hand is shit. Also, I can absolutely see your cards. Hold them closer to yourself.” The fae slowly nodded his head, then looked back to his own hand. Well, if the guinea pig said so!

“I fold,” Izzy said and put his cards down on the table in front of him. He only knew what folding was because of the previous round. Seemed like when someone folds, they’re done with the game. At least, that’s what he hoped it meant. 

The guinea pigs around them nodded, then continued on with the game. The dealer pig looked over at Izzy, then to the chips he still had. Kid was going home with a lot of carrots if he stopped playing now, huh? Maybe they’d get lucky, and he’d ask for money instead. No way were they losing their carrots that easily. 

Izzy looked over to the human at the table, eyeing her over. She seemed rather confident in her hand. What did checking even do? What did any of this do besides make someone lose their money? Poker was a silly way to spend one’s time and money, he decided.

__

Daiyu had to respect the other human for folding. That seemed like coward behavior to her, but then that was probably why she’d always lost to her brother. He’d tried teaching her once, but she hadn’t been down to learn about strategy and giving up when that was the best thing to do. But to fold was to admit that you had shit cards, that you might lose, and she hadn’t wanted to do that, least of all in front of her family.

So she had tried to bluff and fake her way through those few poker games, never folding and losing her chips before the game was over for most other players. At least this time, when everyone showed their cards, she had a good set. Three of a kind wasn’t a bad hand. 

Among the other hands was a one pair, a two pair and shit. A straight. “I hate straights,” Daiyu said with a grin, which garnered a chuckle from the smoking guinea pig next to her. She looked at him, and he flicked his wrist a little before shrugging and taking another suck from his cigar.

Daiyu watched the guinea pig who’d had the straight pull all the chips towards them and glared at them. She still had a fair few chips left, though. She settled back in her seat and looked at the dealer. “Better luck this time,” she said decidedly, looking over at Isidore. “Right?”

__

Izzy watched as the game continued on, leaning back in his seat with a leg crossed over the other. He let out a snort at the woman’s comment on straights. “Hear, hear.” He murmured in amusement as he looked toward all the cards that were spread out on the table. 

“Luck seems to be the point of this game.” Izzy concluded with a furrowed brow. He wouldn’t be playing again, and he still had a bit of chips left from his previous win. “I think I should quit while I’m ahead,” he decided with a nod of his head, a gentle smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“It seems I’m no match for the guinea pigs with a gambling problem,” he told Daiyu with a shrug of his shoulders, making no move to get up just yet. It wasn’t every day you hung out with guinea pigs that could hold a conversation. Besides, the guy that took his money said he wasn’t half bad. He felt accepted. Hopefully they wouldn’t make him keep playing. Watching was fine, right?

__

“It’s all about bluff,” Daiyu said, “Which is easy for them, because I can’t read guinea pig expressions. And I’m a shit liar.” She realized she’d revealed her cards. Metaphorically, this time. “That was a lie.” She showed her teeth as she grinned, hoping she came across as mysterious and hard to figure out.

Isidore was quitting, but she had only played one round and was desperate for at least one win before she called it quits. She told herself she’d not put in any more money, so if she ran out of chips, that’d be it. She hoped she could keep herself to it. Losing fifty bucks was one thing, but losing a hundred? That was just stupid. “Too bad. Prepare to watch me win, then.”

The dealer started tossing around cards again, and she took her five. It was the guinea pig left from her that got to start this time, and he bet a lot of chips. Daiyu stared at her cards. There was a possibility for a straight there, but only if she got real lucky at the trading part. No flush, no pair, not even a high card. She tried to keep her face straight. She ended up picking up the same amount of chips and calling. Trading two cards, she ended up with another shit hand. She looked at Isidore. “Maybe you were right.” She folded her cards. “I fold.” There was no bluffing her way through this.

__

Isidore watched as the next game went on, nodding along as the guinea pig beside him quietly explained his hand and what it all meant, as if coaching the poor fae for the next time he stupidly walked into a gambling den of guinea pigs and threw his dumb luck into the ring. Admittedly, he was absorbing absolutely none of it. He never planned on gambling again. Card games did nothing for him, not nearly enough potential creativity involved.

Once the guinea pig figured that Isidore wasn’t the next gambling grand master, he lost interest in trying to explain it to him and went back to being engrossed in the game. His gaze fell onto the only other human in the room, noticing her slight tells that she wasn’t doing such a great job with her own luck. Then, she admitted defeat and folded. 

The guinea pigs nodded sagely as she did so, continuing on their way until one of them won with a triumphant hurrah. “So how long have you all been at this?” He finally asked, knowing nothing of what these guinea pigs’ true natures exactly were. All guinea pig eyes fell onto Izzy, as if he’d asked a stupid question. The dealer scoffed and threw a carrot and chucked it at the muse’s head.

Izzy stared as the carrot sailed at him, only to fall in the center of the table. One of the pigs squeaked and rushed to the table, only to claim it as his own and drag it back to his seat, claiming his delicious prize. “Right. Sorry, I asked.” Izzy slumped down in his seat and decided it was best to pretend to blend in with the furniture.

__

Folding felt embarrassing. It was pragmatic and calculated, things she was trying to be, but it also went against that nagging nature of hers that always wanted to keep going. Daiyu was able to recognize a lost cause from time to time, but she liked to move in spite of it. At least this wasn’t a hunt, where adrenaline and an itch for violence played a role. She retrieved her chips, waited for the round to finish and returned her cards.

When one of the players threw a carrot at Isidore, she let out a burst of laughter. “Damn,” she wheezed, “They’re vicious. Definitely a thing like stupid questions here!” She grinned at her fellow human, not wanting to antagonize him too much. She watched him slump down and wondered if she should stop for his sake and leave with him. But she didn’t think she quite owed him that.

“Another round, then. This one’s mine.” A gambler’s mindset, even she knew. Daiyu had not won anything yet, and faulty logic told her that the longer she kept going, the more likely a winning hand was. It was a good thing she kept her gambling rather low. She preferred to blow her money on arcade games at Another Castle, to try and get DAI high on the scoreboard again.

As she received her cards (not too bad this time), she looked at her human neighbor. “So, what made you come here tonight? Not an avid poker player, so are you a fan of rodents?”

__

“I didn’t know it was such a sensitive topic,” Izzy squeaked out from lower in his seat, adamant on not making eye contact with anyone for the time being, as a carrot was thrown in his direction. He played idly with his poker chips as the game continued, slowly getting back to a better position in his seat and looking around again as more time passed and the pigs moved on from his seemingly insensitive question.

Another round was called for, and Izzy began to grow bored. As much fun as it was to watch the guinea pigs gamble and do funny things that guinea pigs shouldn’t be doing, poker was such a boring watch. This newcomer, though, was clearly exactly what these pigs were looking for. She had a gambler’s mindset and an unwillingness to lose, which is why she was being drained dry. Oh well, he didn’t know her. He wasn’t about to talk reason into someone hellbent on ruining their finances.

Her voice cut through his thoughts, making Izzy stand at attention with wide eyes. “Hm?” He blinked, replaying what she had said. “Oh, I… heard about talking, gambling guinea pigs and had to see it for myself.” He picked up a token, then tossed it up in the air before catching it once more. “I was not disappointed, let me tell you.” He shot Daiyu a wicked grin, clearly pleased with himself.

__

“That’s okay, you weren’t brought up in guinea pig culture,” she pointed out, “You’ll just have to learn not to be so culturally insensitive.” She was joking, fully. As far as Daiyu could tell the pigs’ culture existed out of gambling, smoking and carrots. It wasn’t much a culture to be sensitive about. But the main way she knew of talking to people was through teasing.

Daiyu focused on the game, feeling good about the cards she swapped out for two new ones. She had a full house — that had to be a winning hand. She tried to keep her face straight, but it was perhaps because of her lesbianism or her general struggle with lying that she was unsure if it was effective. She looked back over to Isidore, hoping that engaging in conversation would make her seem less suspicious. “Understandable, yeah, that was me too. This place is a mid sandwich shop during the day, you ever been? I much prefer this.”

She then looked around the table, at the bets made. Daiyu was sure of herself. A full house was going to bring her a win. “I’m all in,” she said, pushing forward her chips. Her pile was much smaller than that of the other guinea pigs, but she was fine with that. Once she won this, she’d have a bigger pile. She looked around daringly, hoping the rest were with her. 

__

“Of course, silly me.” Izzy blew a breath as he shook his head. Fae didn’t exactly have guinea pigs when a chicken with horns was an option. Why own a guinea pig when there was a golden goose option? Honestly, there were far better options than guinea pigs, especially if they came equipped with a predisposition to gambling away their savings in carrots. Then again, that was pretty cool in its own right. He was imagining a guinea pig gambling ring in his aos sí, which, honestly, the fae would get a real kick out of.

Isidore watched the game progress, but it was impossible to tell who was winning and losing when the guinea pigs didn’t really make facial expressions. Some of them were making little squeaks, but he wasn’t sure if that was a tell so much as it was just them being guinea pigs. His gaze fell back upon Daiyu when she spoke again. “No, I don’t think so. And honestly, I think this is way cooler, too. Keep it up, guys. You make this place interesting.” He looked to the guinea pigs, who seemed to simply squeak and nod in his direction instead of responding directly. They were too glued to the game at hand.

He watched intently as Daiyu put her whole lot in, leaning forward as the guinea pigs looked from their cards and up at the human, weighing their options. “Heh. You got spunk, kid.” The guinea pig across from her said after taking a long pull from his cigar. “Alright, fuck it. All in.” One by one, the other guinea pigs squeaked their agreement, pushing their chips forward. Izzy couldn’t help but think that poker was suddenly exciting, waiting to see what would happen.

__

This was a risky move. Going all in, especially when she had less chips than everyone at the table was risky. All of them would be able to keep playing if she didn’t have a winning hand, but if she didn’t, then she’d be out. When all of them went all in, her stomach sank. So they all had good hands, too? Was that even possible? Daiyu felt the cards creak in her hands as she held onto them tight. 

Every member at the table seemed to be staring at the pile of chips between them. Every member seemed to be salivating at the thought of winning all of those, but that might just be her. The victory would be so sweet. She would have so many chips and then there’d be the choice between continuing on or exchanging them for money. Daiyu knew already which way she’d go: she would keep playing until her fifty dollars was at least tripled.

Once it was time to show cards, she triumphantly showed off her full house. The guinea pig next to her also had a full house. Daiyu bristled at first, but then noticed that hers worth more — three tens compared to his three eights. A grin spread her lips. The next hand was a straight, which lost. And then the last guinea pig laid out his cards, showing four sevens. He puffed his cigar, then said through a cloud of smoke: “Tough luck, kid.” 

With horror, Daiyu watched the tiny creature gather all the chips. She grit her teeth, then got up. Her chair fell back. She could just grab the guinea pig and toss it around the room. It wouldn’t even be a fight. But would it matter? She would still have been beaten by a guinea pig in a stupid card game. “Well played.” Her voice was tense. She needed to go. She was a sore loser and she didn’t want to throw over the table (even though she really did). She grabbed her coat and stomped out the door, meeting the rain again.

__

Izzy stared as the table began to show their hands. Everyone was so tense, and he had no idea what any of the cards meant. Fuck, he had beginner’s dumb luck on his side. He blinked as the guinea pig across from her began pulling all the chips towards him by getting on the table and pushing them with his little head over to his side of the table. If the human wasn’t so obviously upset, he would have found the scene comical.

Instead, the room was tense as she spoke, then pulled her coat off the chair and stomped her way out into the rain. He didn’t know her, so Isidore felt no pull to go talk to her. But shit, being alone in a room full of gambling guinea pigs after that felt a little like a bad idea. They were all eyeing the winner with ire. As badly as he wanted to see a guinea pig brawl, he didn’t. So instead, he collected his winnings and cashed out, coming to a bit more than he’d started with and shoving it into his pocket before heading into the rain and away from whatever was about to happen in there. 

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think the winner of that is getting away unscathed.” Isidore’s voice was hard to cut through the rain, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat. “Sorry about the loss, but you had some serious guts to try the move you did.” Or idiocy, but he didn’t say that part out loud. He’d gone into a gambling ring with no idea what he was doing, which was just as if not more stupid than what she’d pulled.