#Brennan Lee mulligan is my buddy

[disastergoose]

OH MY GOD also check out what @cherubeck made for me!!!!!!!! for my bday!!!!!

[bthemistake]

"I worship a nameless god of Rage"

I don't really know if I like this but I've invested too much time to not post so...

[Image Description:

Fanart of the character Buddy Dawn from the webshow Dimension 20 Fantasy High: Junior Year. On a swirling red background, Buddy has his eyes closed with the corners of his mouth ticking up in an almost smile. He is shirtless with a large sharp red star, burning red, protruding from his chest. The top spike impales his throat, where it had been slit by Kipperlilly, and the blood from his neck has trickled down the shard to drip into his hand below. Dark veins stretch across his skin. Helio has no mark on him anymore, instead his flesh and blood belongs to Ankarna.]

[sarah-chasm]

Avanash my beloved

[haydenthewitch]

FUCK.

Buddy dawn chooses to be revived with rage; he chooses to be come bitter and angry. he was offered death and chose to wake up angry.

I wonder what or who he saw. I wonder what his last thought was; what face he saw last as his life flashed before his eyes. I wonder what ankarna offred him; i wonder if ankarna didn't offer him anything at all. The only offer being the obvious one- revenge on everyone who has ever wronged you.

including your shitty grandpa. Including the girl you thought was misguided but nice. Including the school that led you to your deathbed. Including Kristen abblebees maybe, because why did helio choose her. Now buddy worships a rage god who chose to revive him.

[owlbears-water-boy]

Buddy Dawn Thoughts

cautiously fuckin stoked for Buddy Dawn. i've been reading a bunch or theories about Kristen going back to Helio, and if that happens then i'm so curious as to what Buddy Dawn will do as her foil. does he stay with Helio? is he an unwavering blind follower or does he have some secret complicated religious feelings? he strikes me as the type of religious person who projects that they have it all together, but in reality is an absolute mess of doubt and insecurity. i'm just so eager to see where both him and Kristen go. also i love his little Southern accent it's so pleasant to listen to :)

[eilooxara]

Super weird when people I used to vaguely know get famous after I stop paying attention to them

[tardismyrp]

Conspiracy board/ my confusion:

Since Ankarna now has a cleric following her, Buddy, does that mean she has now been brought back? Kristen was the only one who worshipped Cassandra and that brought her back/is keeping her alive so wouldn’t Buddy be all that Ankarna needs? Or is it because Kristen is such a powerful cleric that she was able to do it? If that was all that was needed then why didn’t one of the original rat grinders multiclass as a cleric? Are they going to show up to the mountains of chaos and Ankarna is gonna be like “surprise bitches”? Or is it because the bad kids know her name that the rat grinders can’t bring her back without her actual name now? Brennan Lee Mulligan I need answers and I can’t wait a week.

[reverendlazarus]

my fancast for a spin off rat grinders season a la the seven. :)

I don’t have the strongest opinions about the rat grinders in actual canon but GOD they could be so good if they were actually elaborated on. i feel like a pre canon spin off would be very cool so here’s My Dream

BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN as the DUNGEON MASTER

fantasy high is His World and I think it would feel wrong to have anyone else do it

IZZY ROLAND as KIPPERLILLY COPPERKETTLE

A miraculous level of a very certain kind of energy is required to play Kipperlilly, and if ANYONE has that energy it’s Izzy. also I think Brennan would get a kick out of watching his wife play his old pc. also I miss her.

IFY NWADIWE as OSIN HAKINVAR

1 he’s hot, 2 he’s a nerd, 3 I believe in him

ERIKA ISHII as IVY EMBRA

they’re cunty and they’d give Ivy an actual personality. need I say more

OSCAR MONTOYA as RUBEN HOPCLAP

remember, this is pre canon!! this is a silly emotional Good Boy with a deep buried toxicity and an encroaching emo phase!!!

ALEX SONG XIA as MARY ANN SKUTTLE

no one else can play her. no one. I am not taking comments or questions.

and finally SURENA MARIE as LUCY FROSTBLADE

she’s alive we’re talking pre canon!!! I am not intentionally bringing a bunch of ACOFAF players, I just truly cannot let Surena or Ocsar only be in the dome once. I think Surena is just sad and pathetic enough while still being cool to be Lucy.

if buddy dawn was there I would have made him Brian David Gilbert. just so everyone knows.

[chirp-featherfowl]

putting my hat in the ring of rat grinders fancasts

KIPPERLILLY COPPERKETTLE: ok, he might be a little less known because he hasn't been on any d20 sidequests, but i know a lot of you watch naddpod + he was on collegehumor, so i'm thinking brian murphy. i know he's a "cool dm" and all that, but he CAN pull off that type-a bitch personality.

BUDDY DAWN: ALLY BEARDSLEY DEFINITELY. who better to play the disillusioned religious child than the disillusioned religious adult?? and they are so fucking funny man. i'm not sure they've played D&D before though

IVY EMBRA: this one's fucking me up. am i crazy to suggest lou wilson? i might be crazy to suggest lou wilson. but i mean look at his previous characters on d20 sidequests and tell me hes not capable of playing incredibly charismatic, hot fighters.

OISIN HAKINVAR: siobhan thompson is calling out my name from the abyss. i think she can def pull off "hot and smart and lame also".

MARY ANN SKUTTLE: hear me out --- zac oyama. his dry humor?? the comedic timing?? think of what he can DO with mary ann.

RUBEN HOPCLAP: emily axford!!! listen how ruben was in the season proper was SO funny, i think emily can make him even fucking crazier than he was. she's so good at escalating bits AND committing to them.

i know it's a little out of left field, but i'm also thinking about guest dms. don't get me wrong, i LOVE mercer, but i really really want brennan lee mulligan to guest dm the rat grinders' season. i didn't realize it until now but he already has so much chemistry with this cast. i think they would do fucking awesome.

[the-knight-of-destiny]

On Fantasy High, Redemption, and Agency (General Spoilers for Junior Year, sort of?) Also this post about FHJY is long as fuck, as all of mine are getting. In short it's my understanding of how Brennan Lee Mulligan sets up the teenage villains of Fantasy High.

Fair warning, this is LOOOONG below the cut.

Y'know when I said I wasn't going to talk about Ratgrinder discourse? I lied.

So Brennan as a DM has a very specific narrative language for how a villain is 'redeemable' and it primarily has to do with the level of agency a villain has in their actions. This isn't particularly hard to notice when you look at our very own (and fan favorite) reformed villain squad.

Starting with Ragh, while he was in his right mind for most of his villainy in Freshman Year, he really didn't do too much other than beat people up and be a bully? While he worked with Daybreak on some level, he wasn't anything more than muscle and not very in on most of the plans. There was also some implication of grooming and manipulation from Daybreak to Ragh.

Zayn as an example also helps build this thesis, while he also hasn't done a TON evil he's generally a bit more discerning than Ragh. However he builds the understanding of how Fantasy High looks at it's redeemed teenage villains, when Zayn is found as a ghost he explicitly calls out Daybreak as being the only reason he's still housed, were he not to go along with the Freshman Year scheme he'd have been sent back to his abusive parents, the foster system, or homeless as like, a fifteen year old boy.

But the actual silver bullet to understanding this is Aelwyn, to preface. Aelwyn fucking sucks in freshman year, way worse than Ragh or Zayn. She's also responsible for way worse than any other teenage villain in the series. She's arguably committed worse than Dayne Blayde or Penelope Everpetal, but there's an important component to her redemption in Sophmore Year, something Brennan has her stay conscious despite making death saves to explain.

In tears Aelwyn notes that Kalina was actively threatening to kill her had she not complied with the Kalvaxus plan.

So there's a running theme here, Ragh didn't seem to have much of an idea of what the wider plan even was and was just muscle, Zayn was under significant threat to his personal safety (and unbeknownst to him, also under threat of death, a threat that actually gets carried out), and Aelwyn was literally convinced she'd be murdered for not complying.

This tracks with the teen villains who DON'T get redeemed by the way, Dayne had no qualms about casually murdering his classmates with a great sword, Penelope didn't seem to mind the idea of throwing her best friend Kalvaxus for a power play. They both get killed because they don't seem to really care what happened, were fully complicit, and had no form of remorse at all.

This leaves us with our code to cracking if Brennan sees the Ratgrinders as possibly worthy of redemption (IMO, signs point to yes, but it's complicated.) We know the Ratgrinders are being manipulated heavily by Porter (I have so many more thoughts about Jace's place in this but that's for a whole other post,) however they don't have Ragh's excuse of being mostly in the dark.

Kipperlilly and Oisin for sure know exactly what's going on, and the rest (sans Buddy) probably do too. The actual question is how much does Ankarna rage affect one's reasoning, and the thing that's interesting about how the Ratgrinders have been set up is that question is sincerely ambiguous.

Signs point to the corruption needing some sort of genuine anger or frustration to latch onto, but this is my first hot take here. This isn't really that damning? Pre-Rage Kipperlilly said some concerning things, in private confidential counseling. She (at the time) understood her fixation on Riz was a problem and perhaps not fair. Oisin probably was mildly frustrated or saddened a girl he had a crush on didn't notice him, but to cast Pre-Rage Oisin as a full on Biz Glitterdew incel is, in my opinion, unlikely. Ruben was already seeking attention but wasn't anything worse than a mildly annoying teenage boy, etc.

These aren't exactly 'good' feelings but they are pretty normal for 14-15 year olds. Pre-Rage Ratgrinders really aren't that much worse than Pre-Character Development Bad Kids, let's not forget that they too definitely act out in really mean, unfair ways at around the same time as Pre-Rage Ratgrinders (Fig and Fabian, most notably.)

As for agency though, they clearly have a bit more of it than previous teenage villains, and are a bit more aware of their actions. They're not under direct threat of violence like Aelwyn or Zayn (though the way Porter and Jace act around them may make that threat implicit.) and they don't have Ragh's excuse of being seemingly largely in the dark.

The Ratgrinders I feel are an intentional test for the Bad Kids (and the Intrepid Heroes as players) because they're significantly more antagonistic than previous teenage villains. Heck, even ones that turned out totally evil. Dayne's kinda chill to the Bad Kids initially, Penelope is a bit backhanded but she isn't outright mean. If you count him, even Johnny Spells humors Riz and is relatively lax to him. Ragh's honestly way more harsh for most of the first half of Freshman Year, Zayn's initially more rude and confrontational to them too.

That said they're both being influenced by a much worse adult (Like everyone in the Reformed Villain Squad) and have a rage god clouding their judgement to an unknown degree. If we follow previously established patterns, they're salvageable by the story's own logic.

The test is for the party, it's easy to forgive Zayn when he openly cries and apologizes immediately when finally confronted about his place in the villain plot, it's easier to forgive Aelwyn when she openly puts herself in harm's way and almost dies to save Adaine.

It's going to be harder, emotionally, for both the player characters and the players themselves to forgive the Ratgrinders and recognize they're also victims in some sense when the Ratgrinders have been actively fucking with the Bad Kids for the whole season, and taking an obvious amount of satisfaction in it.

The challenge Brennan has set up for the party, I feel, is a test of their character. Fighting a possibly ascended god Porter is gonna be a lot easier without a whole other party of enemies in the fight (and even much easier if you can convince some to fight alongside you as a part of heroes.)

[drdemonprince]

Brennan Lee Mulligan from Dropout is my unconfirmed autistic celeb. Every time he tells an anecdote from his childhood I'm like buddy you are One Of Us

i think we diagnosed him as an egg recently on the stream. or maybe more like a spiritual t boy. somebody else might remember

[twicedailyquotes]

I know what’s going on here. I know what’s going on here. Okay? I do. And if you want me to wander backstage to spill the beans... I’m the only one out of the loop, it would seem... and if we check my point total here— I don’t NEED to walk to the front, because I know what it is. It’s a big ol’ GOOSE EGG, GANG. It’s a FAT ZERO. HELLO!! A little LATE ADDITION to the numerical symbol chart brought to us from our friends in Arabia, a little bit of trivia that I happen to know about the history of numbers. That kind of little tidbit would serve me well in most trivia games, unless it had been RIGGED FROM THE BEGINNING! Oh, I’ve only just BEGUN to pull the thread on this sweater, friends. You would THINK in a game where there are only TWO possible correct choices, that one would STUMBLE INTO the right answer every so often, wouldn’t you? In fact, the probability of NEVER guessing right in the full game is a STATISTICAL WONDER, and yet, HERE WE ARE. Introduced at the top of the game as a champion, what do you think that means? Icarus, flying too close to the sun. But it seems Daedalus, our little master crafter over here, had some wax wings of his own, didn’t he? Wanted to see his son fall. Fall from the sky. Oh, how CLOSE TO THE SUN he flew! Well I’m NOT HAVING IT. I solved your labyrinth, puzzle master! The minotaur‘s escaped and you’re gonna get the horns, buddy! I CANNOT WIN!

Brennan Lee Mulligan Game Changer 02x06, Yes or No

[number1rizgukgakstan]

FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 18 LIVEBLOG

It's that time again! Spoilers below the cut!

The only CW being underage drinking + drug use is fascinating- I assume that means no one dies? At least, not like Buddy did.

I'm SO excited looking at that set it's so fucking cool. The crackling in the fake clouds? HOLY SHIT the modeling team went OFF I love their work.

I FORGOT JAWBONE'S THERE. AND SO IS EUGENIA. This is so insane I'm so excited.

"Airitime law" God I love you so much Zach you are SO FUNNY

The WHOLE school is here that's so funny. Does this mean the clubs Riz joined are going to come into play?? GERTIE??? GERTIE???? HEY GERTIE???

The divine domain idea is so fascinating but I would like to say- imagine worshiping a god named Porter. I'm crying laughing.

CURSED GOLD PIECE??? FUCK YEAH GO FOR IT FABIAN

RAGH IS HERE??? FUCK YEAH!

Okay we're getting the NPCS set up? Fuck yeah

FIG NO WHY ARE YOU WANDA CHILDA???? THATS SO FUNNY. Gerard Neigh I'm CRYING. I love Armor of Ayda and the Spirit Guardians.

VULTURE KING LIVER + TALON FOR FABIAN In BAD! BABY! MILK!

WHY IS GORGUG SWALLOWING THE HEART LIKE A PILL??? INSANE

EAT THE FEATHER??? FIG YOU DON"T HAVE TO EAT IT ITS JUST WHEN BROKEN [sobs]

"You're wearing an Orangutang mask and the skull of the Vulture King?"

"And I'm speaking Vulture.

"And you're speaking Vulture."

Adaine is so brilliant I love her.

K2 giving Kristen basically a whole extra turn is so funny. We love K2.

They have so many spells prepared I love it. Fabian's party sounds sick as hell. Even the Bad Baby milk sounds fun. Disgusting but fun.

I feel like using the NMK against Kristen is a bad idea but will have terrible consequences for Kristen, who's silly goofyness has been coming back to bite them. IDK we'll see

Fabian faking it till he makes it is SO FUNNY.

Baby and Baby Baby being here's so fucking funny. Let's go Baby and Baby Baby!

Fabian's HOUSE burning down would be devastating but maybe it'd make his mother come home

CANNONS!!! PUT BABY BABY ON THE CANNONS

They have to DO ELECTIONS and RUN THE PARTY WHILE FIGHTING??? BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN THIS IS INSANE I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Kristen and K2 helping Riz load the canon is so wholesome. They're such a great team

NOOOO FABIAN HAS THE PACMAN TATTOO [laughing crying] RIP

1/4th of the party voting in one turn is absurd. Fabian's charisma is INSANE i love this man and his conga line

Jawbone once again completely out of the loop and just going with it is great.

I now see why Sprak has his own art.

The music video idea was genuis. Emily Axford is such a quick thinker and her performance as Fig is top-knotch.

Oisin summoning dragons breaks my heart. NOOO you were so cool :( now Adaine has to Furious Fist Mega Punch you to death

This fight is honestly so fucking metal. The music video, Fabian killing a dragon singlehandidly, Riz murdering two with the canons, all the Dex saves, Gorgug's excellent driving, JAWBONE, the voting drive... honestly I'm so proud of the Bad Kids and how far they've come.

ANOTHER GORGUG NAT 20 HOLY SHIT! Zac's really fucking it up right now. 7d12 is absurd

Wanda Childa running the party is so insane and I love it. It's Emily Axford's world and we're just living in it.

Eugenia Shadow is amazing. Best NPC by far.

"Can I bring a vulture to give me the help action?" absurd request. brennan's face was brilliant. Again: ITS EMILY AXFORD'S WORLD AND WE'RE JUST LIVING IN IT.

The fight. Every moment was incredible. They really did slay those god damn dragons. No one had to make a single death save. The party was popping. Fig was constantly being the fucking COOLEST. Fabian telling Gorgug not to crash his parent's boat. Eugenia Shadow telling Riz he's the best student she's ever had. It was brilliant. Excellent.

"Sorry Oisin, shouldn't have been such a douchebag, we're gonna kill your grandma now" BRILLIANT. 10/10. I love it.

AS SOON AS SHE SAID DIVINE INTERVENTION I FUCKING CHEERED. K2 DIES TO SAVE THE WORLD BY SAYING "BLIMEY" NOT FUCKING CLICKBAIT.

Zac doing the dm bit is so funny.

K2 not knowing shit and pulling off a miracle is such pure Kristen its so fucking brilliant. THE UNCERTAINTY OF MAYBE BEING PREGNANT IS INSANE. I love Ally Beardsley.

Brennan's reaction to the pregnancy bit is so fucking funny. They broke this man's spirit in the funniest way possible.

"Haunted Wizard Clone Mini Golf Lightning Extravaganza" is the single funniest string of words imaginable. Brennan Lee Mulligan you are my favorite comedian ever.

"How much of this can we cut out, do you think?" Ally this is your bed, you have to lie in it, I'm so sorry. Funniest roll of all time.

WE ALMOST GOT THE GOLD TORNADO?? NOOOOOO.

Circling back, the flavor of Armor of Ayda is so cute. Ayda's protection is always over Fig no matter where she is.

THEY FUCKING DID IT GANG! Now for the penultimate battle! :]

The previews are making me go insane. RATGRINDERS FIGHT RATGRINDERS FIGHT RATGRINDERS FIGHT!

"I think I have to try" is making me so fucking excited. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING FIG????

LETS FUCKING GO! NEXT WEEK BABYYYYYY

[dimension20stuff]

"I watched breasts....move in ways that reoriented my understand of physics, of inertia. Yknow how chameleons' eyes can move independently of each other? Yeah, so me and my little 13 year old buddies got full eyeful of dancing around the bonfire with breasts just completely disrespecting one another's orbit through space and time. Non-euclidean. Like M.C. Escher paintings of boobies."

-Brennan Lee Mulligan

[willfrominternet]

"I know what’s going on here.

I know what’s going on here. Okay? I do.

And if you want me to wander backstage to spill the beans...

I’m the only one out of the loop, it would seem... and if we check my point total here...

I don’t NEED to walk to the front, because I know what it is. It’s a big ol’ GOOSE EGG, GANG. It’s a FAT ZERO.

HELLO! A little LATE ADDITION to the numerical symbol chart brought to us from our friends in Arabia, a little bit of trivia that I happen to know about the history of numbers.

That kind of little tidbit would serve me well in most trivia games, unless it had been RIGGED FROM THE BEGINNING!

Oh, I’ve only just BEGUN to pull the thread on this sweater, friends. You would THINK in a game where there are only TWO possible correct choices, that one would STUMBLE INTO the right answer every so often, wouldn’t you?

In fact, the probability of NEVER guessing right in the full game is a STATISTICAL WONDER, and yet, HERE WE ARE.

Introduced at the top of the game as a champion, what do you think that means?

Icarus, flying too close to the sun. But it seems Daedalus, our little master crafter over here, had some wax wings of his own, didn’t he?

Wanted to see his son fall. Fall from the sky. Oh, how CLOSE TO THE SUN he flew!

Well I’m NOT HAVING IT. I solved your labyrinth, puzzle master! The minotaur‘s escaped, and you’re gonna get the horns, buddy! I CANNOT WIN!"

- Brennan Lee Mulligan losing his mind, Game Changer, S2E6

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker: Mighty Nein Reunited, Part 1

GUESS WHO'S BACK

BACK AGAIN

SOUP WIZARDS

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

Hello and welcome to the return of the Wizard Breakdown Tracker, a late Campaign 2 feature that I realized just now I should have also done for EXU Calamity, but also good news, it's all, eventually, 10/10, pretty much all the wizards die except for possibly Volucia who noped the fuck out to Cael Morrow, and Maya Agrupnin who was Assigned Wizard By Patia. There. EXU Calamity Wizard Breakdown Tracker.

Every D&D game is better with wizards. As Liam O'Brien once said, "what's sexier than wizards? nothing." Now, to be fair, he also once said rogues were the best class when you and I and Brennan Lee Mulligan all know it's paladins; but we can all agree re: the sexiness of wizards. It is my hope that we have more wizards in the future, but for now, we shall cherish the wizards we once had, and that we briefly have again.

Because we're not touching base in this two-shot with a large number of our erstwhile arcane allies and antagonists, and in the service of a joke at the end of this post, we are including our Wizard PCs this time! Let's begin.

Lady Vess DeRogna: She was not in this episode nor mentioned but she WAS in The Nine Eyes of Lucien and she WAS talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, etc. No spoilers for that here. Just wanted you to know that Lady Vess DeRogna is still dead. But like, probably 7/10.

Ludinus Da'leth: Per Beau, the Assembly's gotten awfully quiet lately, and per Caleb, Astrid's been trying to set him up with a professorship, which Ludinus can't really spike because he did offer the Assembly seat to Caleb first so it's weird to say that he's qualified for propaganda minister and not transmutation professor. The Mighty Nein have made this slippery motherfucker sweat so hard that apparently he started making deals with the Feywild. 6/10.

Trent Ikithon: Hey Trent! Bitch.

As previously stated, 9/10.

Astrid Becke: Trent's in jail and she's apparently doing pretty well and is either happy to help Beau's investigation, or helping Caleb without realizing that Beau really wants this. Probably the latter, but we love to see a complicated morally gray queen flourish, though I suspect she's having Beau-like growing pains into her new and fancy job. 4/10.

Yussa Errenis: You can just sense, from his brief response to Jester, that he absolutely knows that the Mighty Nein saved his ass twice and that he will need to call them if he gets trapped on the moon in 7 years, but also he is sleeping, dammit. Secretly glad they keep in touch; really unamused at having 14 people dripping seawater in his tower, because Tidepeak is really more of a turn of phrase. Also if he knew Veth was starting up a camp he would be very slightly hurt she hadn't asked him to teach anything but also if she asked him he would 100% turn it down. 2/10. Never change, king.

Essek Thelyss: We could get all poetic about the yearning but realistically, he's still at the outpost, getting more and more twitchy but also managing to visit Caleb regularly. Possibly hooking up? But that might just be a reference to the bit and general vibe of the episode. Anyway he's probably feeling kind of bad, but hey! We know he ends up in Uthodurn eventually, and then gets to go back to Aeor only to be part the most simultaneously intense and oblique confession of love of all time. So probably 6/10 but buddy! It gets so much better, and pretty soon no less!

Caleb Widogast: There's good meta to be had about Caleb Widogast, six months later, and you are NOT going to find it here, in a post that's about shaking up wizards in an empty Pringles can. Well, at least not much. As indicated above I think this is likely pre-Aeor excursion with Essek; but Caleb feels like he is tentatively and hopefully building a life. It's slow, and it's a little quiet and small right now, but the fact that he's able to do so on his own is itself an immense victory. He probably gets to have lunch with Beau and dinner with Essek at least once a week each, he has a little cottage and his tower, and he's already becoming a beloved teacher. And he leveled up! 3/10. We love to see it.

Veth Brenatto: Jitters about her camp notwithstanding, she's fucking thriving. They're working on the apothecary but in the meantime she's finding a balance of what she loves to do professionally while still staying with her family, she's keeping in touch with the rest, and she's absolutely on point, astute, and hilarious this whole episode. And she is definitely using Tenser's Floating Disk for sex purposes. 1/10. It's Veth Brenatto's world; we're just living in it.

Allura Vyesoren: Pending, depending on what sword Yasha brings out next episode and whether Caleb turned in the staff. TBD/10.

Bonus!

Warlock Breakdown Tracker

Fjord (Stone?): Oh honey.

It's at least five simultaneous breakdowns and they're recharging with each rest like his spell slots. You know how one of the Uk'otoa temples had a hydra? It's a metaphor, or whatever. 10/10.